Guest Author Lou Aronica

CMash May 5, 2012 1 Comment

How is everyone today? I know I am thrilled because of who my guest is today. Grab your coffee and get comfortable because it is truly a special day for me and I want to share with all of you!! If you follow my blog and know me, you know I get very excited about certain things and it usually comes through in my posts whereas I get very chatty and animated (you should see me in person, being Italian, I also talk with my hands lol). OK……enough about me but please indulge me with my fervent introduction.

Today’s guest is a very busy, multi talented, brilliant, a true gentleman, a person that I highly respect and have the honor to call him “friend”. Mr. Lou Aronica, publisher of The Story Plant, contacted me when I first came on the scene of this neighborhood of book blogging and reviewing, asking if I would read and review a book he was publishing by author Michael Baron, Crossing The Bridge. That was in December 2009. Since that time, I have read and reviewed many titles by the same author and other writers he publishes through The Story Plant- Spread The Word Initiative . And every single one of those authors have been added and gone on my “favorite authors TBR” list, except one that I haven’t read yet, and that is Lou Aronica himself. But I plan to rectify that problem. I plan on reading the book he is going to talk about today. So along with you, I now get to meet author, Lou Aronica. Please help me give him a warm welcome to the CMash blog!!

ABOUT LOU ARONICA

Lou Aronica is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Element(written with Ken Robinson), as well as the national bestsellers The Culture Code (with Clotaire Rapaille) and Blue along with several other works of fiction and nonfiction. Prior to focusing on writing, Aronica spent twenty years as a book publishing executive, serving as Deputy Publisher of Bantam Books, and Publisher of Berkley and Avon Books, as well as founding the Bantam Spectra imprint. He is currently President and Publisher of The Fiction Studio and Publisher of The Story Plant.

Lou Aronica lives with his wife and four children in Southern Connecticut.

You can visit Lou at The Story Plant, Fiction Studio Books and Facebook and Twitter.

ABOUT THE BOOK

I’d like to thank everyone who read, responded to, and recommended my novel Blue. The success of Blue has been a rewarding and encouraging experience for me and has spurred me to move in even more ambitious directions with my fiction in the future.

That future begins with Differential Equations, a novel I collaborated on with Julian Iragorri. Julian is a true Renaissance man. He’s a financial wizard, a film producer, and a visionary, among other things. He also has remarkable storytelling gifts, and those gifts are on strong display in this novel.

Differential Equations is the story of Alex Soberano, a contemporary man in crisis. A tremendously successful New York businessman, Alex finds it difficult to embrace joy and accept love. When his life threatens to boil over, he escapes for a brief respite on the West Coast. What waits for him there is something he never could have imagined.

Intertwined with Alex’s story are the stories of three people from different times and places whose lives affect him in surprising ways:

• A woman from the South American city of Anhelo in 1928 that everyone knows as “Vidente.” For decades, Vidente, has been one of Anhelo’s most celebrated citizens because she has the ability to read colors that speak of a person’s fate. However, during one such reading, she sees her own future – a future that includes her imminent death.

• A man named Khaled who left his home in Bethlehem in 1920 to seek fortune in the South American town of Joya de la Costa. He has barely begun to gain a foothold when he learns that the wife and three children he left behind have been murdered. When a magical woman enters his life, he believes that destiny has smiled on him. However, destiny has only just begun to deal with Khaled.

• A nineteen-year-old student named Dro who flies from the South American country of Legado to Boston in 1985 and immediately walks onto the campus of MIT expecting instant admission. Dro’s skills at mastering complex, ever-changing differential equations intrigues the associate admissions director. However, the person he intrigues the most is the celebrated US ambassador from his country, and his relationship with her will define his life.

How the stories of these four people merge is the central mystery of Differential Equations.

If you’ve read Blue, I think you’ll find many similar motifs here, including the intersection of reality and imagination, and the transformative power of the spirit. You’ll also find a strong concentration on characters and their relationships (frankly, I don’t think I could ever be involved with a novel that didn’t concentrate on these). One note: while Blue was a novel for readers of all ages, Differential Equations is definitely an adult novel. Some of the situations in it are decidely not for teens.

You can find out more about Differential Equations here. I hope you get a chance to read it, and I’m looking forward to your thoughts.

Purchase links:
Order from Amazon here; Barnes and Noble here; Apple here; and Chapters here.

Books by Lou Aronica:

Fiction:
The Forever Year (as Ronald Anthony)
Flash and Dazzle (as Ronald Anthony)
Blue
Until Again

Nonfiction:
A Million Thanks (as L.A. Stamford; with Shauna Fleming)
The Discipline Miracle (as L.A. Stamford; with Linda Pearson)
The Culture Code (with Clotaire Rapaille)
Riding the Blue Train (with Bart Sayle and Surinder Kumar)
The Secret Psychology of How We Fall in Love (as L.A. Stamford; with Paul Dobransky)
Miraculous Health (with Rick Levy)
The Power of Female Friendship (as L.A. Stamford; with Paul Dobransky)
The Element (with Ken Robinson)
Conscientious Equity (with Neal Asbury)

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

Guest Author, Partners In Crime Tours, Showcase

Guest Author Jeremy Burns

CMash April 20, 2012 1 Comment

Today we have a very adventurous and talented author, stopping by to tell us about his debut book, as he tours with Partners In Crime Tours. So please help me welcome Jeremy to the CMash blog.

ABOUT JEREMY BURNS

An avid reader since the age of three, Jeremy Burns was devouring novels by the time other children his age were still learning their ABCs. Blessed (and, at times, cursed) with a decidedly active imagination and an insatiable curiosity for nearly everything, Jeremy made learning and storytelling two of his chief passions. After earning his degree in History from Florida State University, Jeremy accepted a position teaching literature, creative writing, political science, and philosophy at an international school in Dubai. Like the characters in his books, Jeremy is an intrepid explorer whose own adventures have taken him from Mayan ruins in the Yucatan to the pyramids of Egypt, from medieval castles across Europe to the jungles of Bangladesh, and beyond. To date, Jeremy has traveled to more than twenty countries across four continents, seeking adventure, discovery, and ideas for future novels. When not exploring a new corner of the globe, Jeremy lives in Florida, where he is working on his next thrilling novel.

Connect with Jeremy: Website~Facebook

GUEST POST

Happy Birthday, Hitler
By Jeremy Burns

Adolf Hitler was a very bad man. Today marks the 123rd anniversary of his birth, and, excepting staunch neo-Nazis and vehement anti-Semites, there really is very little debate on this point. Few individuals in recent history (or indeed, in any period of history) are viewed as universally negatively as Adolf Hitler. What historians do debate, however, is whether Hitler was himself the architect of his own evil rise to power or whether he was a product of a certain volatile climate in which the rise of a man such as Hitler was inevitable.

An oft-asked question by people today is how on earth a country as traditionally logical and grounded as Germany would go along with what, to our retrospective minds, seems to be a series of insane and wholly immoral ventures. The answer is twofold: pride and fear.

In the period between the First World War and Hitler’s assuming control of what would become the Third Reich, Germany was consumed with a strong nationalistic pride, with popular myths hearkening back to a gilded age in which she was the dominant force in Europe in both cultural prowess and military might. These myths stood in stark contrast to the very real problems that ravaged the people on a regular basis: national humiliation on a global stage following the end of World War I, a revolving door of incompetent and corrupt leaders, and mass poverty spurred, among other factors, by hyperinflation. The Germany the people lived in was nothing like the Germany they were sure had once been.

One of the main groups blamed for this dysfunctional version of Germany was the Jewish people. Occupying many positions of cultural, academic, and financial influence, the Jews made a viable scapegoat as they had in Europe many times before. It was said that foreign influence, particularly that of the Jews, Slavs, Gypsies, and other groups of eastern European descent, were the cause of this rift between the Germany that should have been and the Germany that actually was. It was because of the Jews and foreigners living among them that the unstoppable German war machine had ground to a halt. It was because of the Jews that the proud German nation was humbled at Versailles. It was because of the Jews that the ideals of German culture, innovation, and industry were corrupted and cast asunder. German leaders were viewed as weak-minded puppets for foreign powers that sought to destroy all that the German people held dear. Fear of these treasonous conspirators and their plots to bring the German nation down from within was another of the key elements that fostered the atmosphere of the day.

Into this volatile climate was born the National Socialist German Worker’s Party – later shortened to National Socialists and then simply to the Nazis. Originally a small and insignificant group of political upstarts in Bavaria, they got their boost from a frustrated Austrian painter and decorated military veteran named Adolf Hitler. Hitler would soon use his powerful oratory skills and personal presence to give life to a twisted and grandiose vision welcomed and shared, in many regards, by much of the German populace of the time.

In Germany as in America, there was a clash of extreme ideas at the time. The Great Depression cast both nations, as with most of the western world, into turmoil, proving to the minds of most that the old ways simply didn’t work. Change was needed. Radical change, many believed, because the failure of the old systems was so radical. Extreme right-wing and left-wing movements sprang up across western world, each offering their answers to the problems that plagued their modern world. Communism and Fascism were at war long before Hitler invaded the Soviet Union in 1941. Their battlegrounds were the streets of Berlin and Washington, New York and Munich. The prize: the preservation or destruction of all that one way of life or another held sacred.

The year is 1932. You are not a time traveler. You do not have the hindsight that the passage of time gives us. You do not know what will transpire in this war between extreme left and extreme right. Both appear to be hulking behemoths that would smash the old order and usher in something new and terrifying. You have the means and opportunity to do something to influence the outcome of this war of ideals. What would you do? How would you choose which side to take?

What if one man did have that opportunity? What if John D. Rockefeller, Jr., scion of the vast Rockefeller empire and one of the richest and most influential men of the last few centuries, had been presented with this choice? And what if he chose very, very wrongly?

This dilemma and its aftermath provide the historical backdrop for my hit thriller FROM THE ASHES, an action-packed novel that poses the above question and answers it in a chillingly plausible manner. In my study of history, the official version of events rarely conveys all the underlying conflicts and tensions, the shadow wars and the buried secrets… in short, the sordid controversies and dark conspiracies that grease the wheels of progress. The rise of an obscure washed-up artist to the commander of the greatest military machine the world had ever seen may well have been the product of his time. He may have been simply an evil genius who seized upon the zeitgeist of the day to fulfill his deranged fantasies. Or, perhaps, there’s still more of the story to be told.

Today, on a date that’s become associated with the Columbine massacre and college kids getting high, Adolf Hitler would have been 123 years old. Despite all the horrors Hitler unleashed upon the world, he did leave us some good things: a universal enemy that even today remains the quintessential embodiment of evil, an opportunity for American industry to get its economic footing back and establish itself as a world power (and counterbalance to the Soviet Union), and more than a few shocking and mysterious secrets buried in the closets of the Third Reich. So, happy birthday, Hitler. May you rot in Hell.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Graduate students Jonathan and Michael Rickner, sons of eminent archeologist Sir William Rickner, are no strangers to historical secrets and archeological adventures. But when Michael is discovered dead in his Washington, D.C. apartment, Jon refuses to believe the official ruling of suicide. Digging deeper into his brother’s work, he discovers evidence that Michael was murdered to keep his dissertation research buried. Joined by Michael’s fiancée Mara Ellison, Jon travels to New York where he uncovers the threads of a deadly Depression-era conspiracy – one entangling the Hoover Administration, the Rockefellers, and the rise of Nazi Germany – and the elite cadre of assassins that still guard its unspeakable secret. Finding themselves in the crosshairs of the same men who killed Michael, Jon and Mara must navigate a complex web of historical cover-ups and modern-day subterfuge, outwitting and outrunning their all-powerful pursuers as they race through a labyrinthine treasure hunt through the monuments and museums of Manhattan to discover the last secret of John D. Rockefeller, Jr., before their enemies can bury the truth – and them – forever.

Book Details:
Purchase Links: Amazon ; Barnes And Noble
Publisher: Fiction Studio Books
Pub Date: January 17,2012
Pages: 394
Direct Tour Page Link

Guest Author, Partners In Crime Tours, Showcase

Guest Author Joshua Graham

CMash April 17, 2012 Leave a Comment

Today we have a special guest, Amazon #1 bestselling author, stopping by to talk about his newest book while he tours with Partners In Crime Tours. Please welcome Joshua Graham!!!

ABOUT JOSHUA GRAHAM

Winner of the 2011 INTERNATIONAL BOOK AWARDS, and Amazon.com #1 bestselling author Joshua Graham’s Barnes & Noble #1 bestselling novel BEYOND JUSTICE is taking the world by storm, one reader at a time. Many of his readers blame him for sleepless nights, arriving to work late, neglected dishes and family members, and not allowing them to put the book down.

BEYOND JUSTICE, THE ACCIDENTAL EXORCIST, THE ACCIDENTAL HERO, THE ACCIDENTAL HEALER, and DEATH AND TAXES, have reached the top of multiple bestseller list on Barnes & Noble topping titles by John Grisham, Linda Fairstein, Scott Turrow and James Lee Burke, Ted Dekker and Steven James. Soaring to the top of the Barnes & Noble lists, BEYOND JUSTICE recently hit #1 in the Legal Thriller and Christian Thriller categories, topping by John Grisham, Joel C. Rosenberg, and Michael Connelly. It has also remained on the Amazon.com top 100 bestselling Kindle bestseller list months after its release.

Suspense Magazine listed BEYOND JUSTICE in its BEST OF 2010, alongside titles by Scott Turrow, Ted Dekker, Steven James and Brad Thor.

His short story THE DOOR’S OPEN won the HarperCollins Authonomy Competition (Christmas 2010.)

Publishers Weekly described BEYOND JUSTICE as:

“…A riveting legal thriller…. breaking new ground with a vengeance… demonically entertaining and surprisingly inspiring.”

Connect with Joshua:

Website~Twitter~Facebook

ABOUT THE BOOK

THE DESCENT INTO HELL IS NOT ALWAYS VERTICAL…

Sam Hudson, a reputable San Diego attorney, learns this when the authorities wrongfully convict him of the brutal rape and murder of his wife and daughter, and sends him to death row. There he awaits execution by lethal injection.

If he survives that long.

In prison, Sam fights for his life while his attorney works frantically on his appeal. It is then that he embraces the faith of his departed wife and begins to manifest supernatural abilities. Abilities which help him save lives– his own, those of his unlikely allies–and uncover the true killer’s identity, unlocking the door to his exoneration.

Now a free man, Sam’s newfound faith confronts him with the most insurmountable challenge yet. A challenge beyond vengeance, beyond rage, beyond anything Sam believes himself capable of: to forgive the very man who murdered his family, according to his faith. But this endeavor reveals darker secrets than either Sam or the killer could ever have imagined. Secrets that hurtle them into a fateful collision course.

BEYOND JUSTICE, a tale of loss, redemption, and the power of faith.

“…A riveting legal thriller…. breaking new ground with a vengeance… demonically entertaining and surprisingly inspiring.”

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

“…hits the ground running…handled by a deft hand.”

Adrian Phoenix, BENEATH THE SKIN (Pocket Books)

“This tense, fast-paced story of outrageous injustice, insidious evil, and looming disaster has everything the savvy reader should expect, and more. [Graham] belongs to a new, emerging wave of writers who dare to color outside conventional lines. And he does so with style!”

Glen Scorgie, THE JOURNEY BACK TO EDEN (Zondervan)

Book Details:

Genre:Adult, Suspense,Mystery,Thriller

Publisher: Dawn Treader Press

Publication Date: July 5, 2010

Pages: 448

Purchase:Amazon~Barnes&Noble—

Book Review, Guest Author, Partners In Crime Tours, Showcase

Guest Author Bill Walker

CMash April 1, 2012 Leave a Comment

Today is a very special day for me. And what better way to spend my birthday then with an old (and not chronologically lol) friend. I read and reviewed Bill’s first book, A Note from an Old Acquaintance, for another tour company back in March of 2010 . He then emailed me asking if I would post my review on Amazon and we kept in touch. Then in August of 2010 he bestowed on me a great honor and entrusted me to read and review his rewritten manuscript of Titanic 2012. Today, not only is he stopping by to kick off his tour, but he is kicking it off with Partners In Crime Tours. I will be reposting my review because, as you will see, that was what I promised to do. So please help me welcome my friend and author, Mr. Bill Walker.

ABOUT BILL WALKER

A graduate of Emerson College’s prestigious film school, Bill wrote and directed his first feature film, Pawn, while still a student. After graduation, he co-founded Newbury Filmworks, Inc., an award-winning production company renowned for making high-quality corporate films and commercials.

In 1990, Bill relocated to Los Angeles, and began a freelance story analysis career for various studios and independent production companies, while devoting his spare time to the writing of novels, short stories, and screenplays. He is also a highly-respected graphic designer, specializing in book and dust jacket design. He has worked on books by such luminaries as: Ray Bradbury, Richard Matheson, Dean Koontz, and Stephen King. In addition, Bill is a member of the Authors Guild.

He has won awards for his screenwriting, his two short story collections for Mid-Graders, Five-Minute Frights and Five-Minute Chillers, are perennial Halloween favorites, and his first novel, Titanic 2012 was enthusiastically received by readers. His second novel, Camp Stalag was released in 2001. Bill lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Debbie, and their sons, Jeffrey and Brian.
You can visit Bill at his website or Facebook.
You can hear his interview on Blog Talk Radio here.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Best-selling mystery novelist Trevor Hughes has no idea that attending his twentieth reunion at Harvard will forever change his life.

Persuaded to go by his on-again-off-again girlfriend, Dr. Julia Magnusson, he meets up with three old friends: Solly Rubens, a self-made Wall Street millionaire; Ken Faust, a successful software entrepreneur; and Harlan Astor, New York real estate tycoon and the glue that holds their circle together.

That afternoon, over drinks at the Harvard Club, Harlan drops his bombshell: He is doing what James Cameron did not — he is rebuilding the Titanic, and sailing the ship on the hundredth anniversary to honor those who died, including his great-grandfather, John Jacob Astor IV. Only Trevor is intrigued by Harlan’s audacity. Touched by his friend’s interest and concern, Harlan invites him on the maiden voyage to serve as the official chronicler.

On April 10, 2012, Trevor journeys to Southampton and, along with the hundreds of handpicked passengers, boards the Titanic. He is awed by the immensity of the ship and the feelings that well up in him. His friend has made his grand dream a reality.

During the journey, armed with his iPod Touch and a miniature wireless camera hidden in his glasses, Trevor interviews both passengers and crew, eager to learn the reasons why they chose to sail on the reborn ship.

Nearly every one of them claims to have been profoundly affected by Cameron’s film, wanting to recapture the magic for themselves. And some of them are dying — their last wish to be on the maiden voyage of the new Titanic.

Trevor is touched that his friend has allowed these people to come aboard, and is unprepared when he meets Madeleine Regehr, a beautiful, free-spirited woman who resists his entreaties to be interviewed, intriguing Trevor all the more. Slowly, and inexorably, Maddy draws him out of his shell, allowing him to love deeply and completely, for the very first time in his life.

But Trevor soon discovers a darker purpose for the voyage, a purpose that threatens to destroy him and the woman he loves. In a race against time that pits friend against friend, Trevor must stop the unstoppable or risk a horrific replay of history…

Read an excerpt:

Chapter One

The furor in the media had just died down when Solly’s call came that rainy midweek day. I’d been hiding from the wolves of the fourth estate for nearly three weeks, holed up in my book-filled condo/prison in Charlestown, unable even to slip outside for a breath of fresh air without some cookie-cutter reporter, with a paint-by-numbers smile, sticking a microphone in my face and asking me the same tired question: “What was it like?”
As if the whole of my experience could be quantified in a sound bite.
Truth was I was avoiding everyone, even Julia and her earnest attempts to help me sort through the miasma of doubt and pain.
Sweet Julia.
We’ve been on-and-off again for the last five years. And I hadn’t seen her for the better part of a year. I¬¬ guess she thought now was as good a time as any to mend fences. Christ, if she only knew….
And what was worse, the book I’d promised my publisher, the one that was supposed to chronicle all I’d been through, lay like a beached whale on the shore of my imagination. I was standing at the bay window overlooking the harbor, watching the rain sluice down the glass, wondering if I would ever have the courage to write again, when my gaze shifted to the pile of DVDs lying in a scattered heap on the teakwood coffee table.
My eyes filled with tears yet again.
“I’m so sorry, Maddy,” I groaned, knocking my forehead against the cool glass. “I’m so goddamned sorry.”
“You have a call,” the computer intoned in a quiet contralto, making me wince. Even the goddamned computer’s voice reminded me of Madeleine.
“Who is it?” I asked, expecting to hear it was yet another call from the Globe. Hometown reporters were the worst, the most ravenous.
And then I remembered I’d instructed the computer to screen all calls, allowing access to only a select few.
“The caller has an Identity Block in place. Shall I take a message?”
I sighed.
To hell with it. I had to rejoin the human race at some point, even if I felt as if I no longer belonged in it.
“Put it through,” I said, making my way over to the sleek MacBook Pro sitting atop my writing desk. The screen came to life and Solly Rubens’ round face filled the screen. His saturnine looks were etched with concern, an expression that somehow looked ominous on him.
“Hey, Hughes, you okay? How are you holding up?”
The tiny “picture-in-picture” in the upper left-hand corner of the screen showed me what Solly was seeing, rendering his question moot.
I looked as if I’d taken the cook’s tour of Hell: blue eyes¬¬–red-rimmed and puffy–surrounded by dark circles, sandy hair greasy and disheveled, three-day growth of a patchy red-flecked beard, and the same clothes I’d worn since Monday. I looked sixty-two, instead of forty-two. All in all, I presented a picture about as far as one could get from what Boston magazine had called: “The World’s Most Eligible Author.”
“How the hell do you think I’m holding up?” I said, staring back at Solly. His eyes blinked rapidly and I debated whether or not to instruct the MAC to disconnect, when he spoke again.
“Aw, man, I’m sorry. I really put my foot in it, didn’t I?” he said, trying to appear contrite. “Listen, I know we’ve never been the best of pals, but we had some good times back in school, didn’t we? I mean, Christ, we’ve been through a hell of a lot since Harvard. You a hotshot writer. Me hittin’ the big time. I still can’t believe it’s been a year–”
“What do you want, Solly?”
His porcine eyes darted somewhere off-screen, then riveted onto mine.
“Ken and I thought you should get out of the house, maybe meet us at the Harvard Club. What do you say?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“You gotta talk about it sometime,” he said, his Brooklyn tenor rising in pitch. “You’ve been avoiding us for weeks, you look like crap, and everybody–and I mean everybody’s–been trying to find out what the hell happened out there. And what about Julia? You shutting her out? You treatin’ her like dirt, too?”
I resented him bringing her name up, only because I knew he was using her as leverage, and not out of any real concern for her feelings.
Not that I was any better.
“She’s none of your business, Solly. Leave her out of this.”
“All right, I’m sorry. But you know I’m right. You gotta get on with your life, for Christ’s sake. If you’re not gonna do it for yourself, do it for Harlan.”
I leaned forward, my nose practically touching the screen. “Where were you when Harlan needed the three of us? Huh? Where the hell were you when the chips were down? Taking Karen to another Broadway show?”
Solly’s lips compressed into a thin angry line. “Okay, I deserved that. But Ken and I have a right to know what happened.”
So, that was it. Like everyone else, they wanted to know the truth about Harlan’s death–wanted to know all the gory details. Christ, they were no better than the goddamned muckrakers slinking around my front door. And why was it so important to Ken and Solly, anyway?
Would it bring Harlan back? Would it bring any of them back? Why the hell couldn’t they just leave me alone?
And then, all at once, the anger passed, as if someone had thrown a switch inside me. Suddenly, I wanted very badly to tell someone–anyone. And perhaps it was more than fitting to do it where it all began.
“All right,” I said. “I’ll meet you guys at the club, Friday night at six.”
Solly cracked a grin, revealing crooked yellow teeth. “It’ll do you good, Hughes, you’ll see.”
“Maybe…. But drinks and dinner are on you.”
He chuckled.
“My pleasure. See you there.”
The screen went dark, and I sat there for a long moment, wondering if I shouldn’t blow them off. And then I realized Harlan would want me to go. I doubted very much, however, once they heard the whole story, it would be any pleasure for any of us….

This is my review that was posted on August 16th, 2010:

There are caveats before I give my official review. Back in February I read, reviewed and hosted a “Guest Author” spotlight at the request of Pump Up Your Book, for A Note from an Old Acquaintance by Bill Walker. I thought the book was exceptional, giving it a rating of 5/5. You can read my review here. Bill had contacted me, after I posted my review, and asked if I would mind posting the review on some sites, which I agreed to do. Since that time, we have touched base every now and then as to how things were going with his book. He told me that he was working on a manuscript (revising, editing, making changes) of a book that he had written and with limited printing in 1998. I then received an email from him, which amazed me, surprised me and, quite honestly, felt honored to receive this request. Could he entrust me with this manuscript and give my honest opinion as a reader, consumer and reviewer?

I have not read the original Titanic 2012, that was printed years ago so I can not compare it to the revised manuscript that I recently finished reading. However, and ironically knowing that I had the manuscript in my EReader waiting for me to read, I saw that another blogger had found a copy of the original and had read the book. Sheila, from One Person’s Journey Through A World Of Books, reviewed this book on her blog. I also need to say that the revised manuscript edition, is just that, a manuscript. Bill has informed me that it is now in his agent’s hand, so the revised edition, that I will be reviewing, has not yet been published nor is it available as of this date. However. I did tell him that since this blog is about books and my honest thoughts and reviews of books I read, that I would treat his manuscript in the same manner I do for all books I read. I also told him that I pride myself on giving a credible and honest review of every book I read, and that the same criteria would be utilized for his manuscript. He agreed. He also promised me that when the book does become available, he would notify me to let my followers, readers and visitors know so that I can give an update. And now my thoughts and opinion of said manuscript:

Titanic 2012 by Bill Walker (revised manuscript)
Final Manuscript Draft
At the request of the author, who entrusted me with his manuscript, a PDF was sent via email to be downloaded to my EReader, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.

Synopsis (blurb borrowed from GoodReads for original print): When James Cameron’s vision of a movie, Titanic, made it to the screen, who would’ve known just how popular it would become? Now there’s a new mystery thriller that puts the luxury liner of doom in the near future with suspenseful results. It’s the year 2012, and best selling mystery novelist Trevor Hughes has just about completed his next big book when old friend Harlan Astor announces that he’s spent hundreds of millions of dollars to stage one of the biggest publicity shows in history: he’s built a new Titanic, an exact replica of the 1912 version. This tweaks Trevor’s writerly instincts, and in short order, he breaks up with his girlfriend and heads out for Poland to board the maiden voyage of this colossal remake. Even Kate Winslet is on hand to christen the ship, and the media are eating it up. But why did Astor do this, and why did he handpick the people who are boarding this remarkable ship? First-time novelist Bill Walker rings all the bells and blows all the whistles as he sets sail with his maiden voyage déjà vu, TITANIC 2012.

My Thoughts and Opinion: I have to preface this by saying that I saw the movie, Titanic, on multiple occasions and enjoyed it each time. Also, there will be no spoilers in this review. The premise of the plot, at times parallels the movie to some degree, but the story line stands on its own. The parallels were Harlan Astor, whose great grandfather was lost in the tragedy of the original Titanic, designed the new ship to resemble the original. He also planned other details to resemble the maiden voyage of 1912, such as the dress of the passengers, the menu, the different classes, the valets. As the synopsis states, Titanic 2012 is a suspenseful romance. The author’s words transported me back to 1912 and then back to the present. I found myself so engrossed in reading this manuscript whereas I became part of the story and unaware what was going on around me. The characters were brought to life through the writer’s descriptions and each had their reasons for wanting to be a part of Titanic 2012. As far as the suspense, a page turner. I apologize for being vague, but there are many aspects to the suspense theme and will not include any spoilers in this review. The romance perspective profound, yet tender and emotional.
I am sorry for posting this review due to the fact that it is unavailable as of right now. But will honestly tell you, that when it is published, it is a must read. If you are a fan of Titanic, the movie, you will love Titanic 2012. Put this one on your TBR list now and hopefully it will be obtainable soon. And like the movie whereas I saw it more than once, when this is in print, I will be reading it again. Bravo Mr. Walker !!

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.

Guest Author, Partners In Crime Tours, Showcase

Guest Author Mark Gilleo

CMash March 29, 2012 Leave a Comment

Mr. Lou Aronica from The Story Plant has given me the distinct honor to introduce you to today’s guest, who this week, kicks off his virtual tour with Partners In Crime Tours.

I am so excited, thrilled, amazed and enthusiastic about today’s guest. Since I started blogging, I have reviewed many books at the request of The Story Plant and because of it, I have added quite a few “must read authors” to my list. And today, another author has been added. I mentioned the word “amazed”. Truly amazed that this was a debut novel!!! So please help me give a very warm welcome to Mr. Mark Gilleo.

ABOUT MARK GILLEO

Mark Gilleo holds a graduate degree in international business from the University of South Carolina and an undergraduate degree in business from George Mason University. He enjoys traveling, has lived and worked in Asia, and speaks fluent Japanese. A fourth-generation Washingtonian, he currently resides in the D.C. area. His two most recent novels were recognized as finalist and semifinalist, respectively, in the William Faulkner-Wisdom Creative writing competition. The Story Plant will publish his next novel, SWEAT in 2012.

You can visit Mark Gilleo at Love Thy Neighbor page and the www.thestoryplant.com.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Clark Hayden is a graduate student trying to help his mother navigate through the loss of his father while she continues to live in their house near Washington DC. With his mother’s diminishing mental capacity becoming the norm, Clark expects a certain amount of craziness as he heads home for the holidays. What he couldn’t possibly anticipate, though, is that he would find himself catapulted into the middle of a terrorist operation. As the holiday festivities reach a crescendo, a terrorist cell – which happens to be across the street – is activated. Suddenly Clark is discovering things he never knew about deadly chemicals, secret government operations, suspiciously missing neighbors, and the intentions of a gorgeous IRS auditor. Clark’s quiet suburban neighborhood is about to become o! ne of the most deadly places on the planet, and it’s up to Clark to prevent the loss of hundreds of thousands of innocent lives in the nation’s capital.

Fast, acerbic, wise and endlessly exciting, LOVE THY NEIGHBOR marks the unforgettable debut of a startling new voice in suspense fiction.

Read an excerpt:

AUTHOR’S NOTE
(This part is true.)In late 1999 a woman from Vienna, Virginia, a suburb ten miles from the White House as the crow flies, called the CIA. The woman, a fifty-something mother of three, phoned to report what she referred to as potential terrorists living across the street from her middle-class home. She went on to explain what she had been seeing in her otherwise quiet neighborhood: Strange men of seemingly Middle-Eastern descent using their cell phones in the yard. Meetings in the middle of the night with bumper-to-bumper curbside parking, expensive cars rubbing ends with vans and common Japanese imports. A constant flow of young men, some who seemed to stay for long periods of time without introducing themselves to anyone in the neighborhood. The construction of a six-foot wooden fence to hide the backyard from the street only made the property more suspicious.Upon hearing a layperson’s description of suspicious behavior, the CIA promptly dismissed the woman and her phone call. (Ironically, the woman lived less than a quarter of a mile from a CIA installation, though it was not CIA headquarters as was later reported.)

In the days and weeks following 9/11, the intelligence community in the U.S. began to learn the identities of the nineteen hijackers who had flown the planes into the World Trade Towers and the Pentagon. In the process of their investigation they discovered that two of the hijackers, one on each of the planes that hit the World Trade Towers, had listed a particular house in Vienna, Virginia as a place of residence.

The FBI and various other agencies swooped in on the unassuming neighborhood and began knocking on doors. When they reached the house of a certain mother of three, she stopped them dead in their tracks. She was purported to have said, “I called the CIA two years ago to report that terrorists were living across the street and no one did anything.”

The CIA claimed to have no record of a phone call.

The news networks set up cameras and began broadcasting from the residential street. ABC, NBC, FOX. The FBI followed up with further inquiries. The woman’s story was later bounced around the various post 9/11 committees and intelligence hearings on Capitol Hill. (Incidentally, after 9/11, the CIA closed its multi-story facility in the neighborhood where the terrorist reportedly lived. In 2006 the empty building was finally torn down and, as of early 2011, was being replaced with another office building).

There has been much speculation about what the government should have or could have known prior to 9/11. The answer is not simple. There have been anecdotal stories of people in Florida and elsewhere who claimed to have reported similar “terrorist” type activities by suspicious people prior to 9/11. None of these stories have been proven.

What we do know is that with the exception of the flight school instructor in Minnesota who questioned the motive of a student who was interested in flying an aircraft without learning how to land, and an unheeded warning from actor James Woods who was on a plane from Boston with several of the purported terrorists while they were doing a trial run, the woman from Vienna, Virginia was the country’s best chance to prevent 9/11. To date, there has been no verification of any other pre-9/11 warnings from the general public so far in advance of that fateful day in September.

For me, there is no doubt as to the validity of the claims of the woman in Vienna.

She lived in the house where I grew up. She is my mother.

Mark Gilleo. October, 2011. Washington DC.

* * *

Ariana turned on the nightlight and closed the door to her daughter’s room. She walked down the carpeted hall towards the light stretching out from the plastic chandelier over the dining room table. Her husband’s chair was empty and she quietly called out his name. No response. As Ariana turned the corner to the kitchen and reached for the knob on the cabinet over the counter, eight hundred pages of advertising crashed into her rib cage, sucking the wind from her lungs. As his wife doubled over, Nazim raised the thick Yellow Book with both hands and hit her on her back, driving her body to the floor.

“Don’t you ever disobey me in front of others again.”

Ariana coughed. There was no blood. This time. She tried to speak but her lips only quivered. Her thick-framed glasses rested on the floor, out of reach. Her brain fought to make sense of what happened, what had set her husband off. It could have been anything. But every curse had its blessing, and for Ariana the blessing was the fact that Nazim didn’t hit her in front of Liana. A blessing that the child didn’t see her mother being punched. The reason was simple. Nazim was afraid of his daughter. Afraid of what she could say now that she could speak.

The curse was that Ariana never knew when she had crossed the line. She never knew when the next blow was coming. She merely had to wait until they were alone to learn her fate for past indiscretions.

Ariana gasped slowly for air. She didn’t cry. The pain she felt in her side wasn’t bad enough to give her husband the satisfaction.

“When I say it is time to leave, it is time to leave. There is no room for negotiation in this marriage.”

Ariana panted as her mind flashed back to the Christmas party. She immediately realized her faux pas. “I didn’t want to be rude to Maria. She spent days making dessert. She is old. Do we not respect our elders anymore?”

Nazim pushed his wife onto the floor with his knee, a reaction Ariana fully expected. “You are my wife. This is about you and me. Our neighbor has nothing to do with it.” Nazim looked down at Ariana sprawled on the linoleum and spit on her with more mock than saliva.

“Maria is my friend.”

“Well, her son is coming home and she doesn’t need you.”

Nazim dropped the yellow book on the counter with a thud and went to the basement. Ariana gathered herself, pushing her body onto all fours and then pulling herself up by the front of the oven. She looked at the Yellow Book and her blood boiled. It was like getting hit by a cinderblock with soft edges. When it hit flush, it left very little bruising. As her husband intended. For a man of slight build, Nazim could generate power when a beating was needed.

Ariana took inventory of herself, one hand propping herself up on the counter. She had been beaten worse. Far worse. By other men before she met her husband. Her eyes moved beyond the Yellow Pages and settled on the knife set on the counter, the shiny German steel resting in its wooden block holder. She grabbed the fillet knife, caressed the blade with her eyes, and then pushed the thought from her mind.

Her husband called her from the basement and she snapped out of her momentary daze. “Coming,” she answered, putting the knife back in its designated slot in the wood. She knew what was coming next. It was always the same. A physical assault followed by a sexual one. She reached up her skirt and removed her panties. There was no sense in having another pair ripped, even if robbing Nazim of the joy would cost her a punch or two.

Christmas, the season of giving, she thought as she made her way down the stairs into the chilly basement.

Amazon link B&N link

Read my review here.

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.

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

Book Review, Guest Author, Showcase

Guest Author Laurel Dewey and Book Reviews "Promissory Payback and Unrevealed"

CMash October 1, 2011 Leave a Comment

I can’t believe it’s already October!! This year seems to have gone by so fast, at least to me. And what better way to start the month off by hosting a Guest Author as she begins her virtual tour! Mr. Lou Aronica, from The Story Plant, is stopping by with the very busy and talented author, Ms. Laurel Dewey, as she kicks off her 2 month virtual tour with Partners In Crime Tours. So please help me give a warm welcome to our guest today, Ms. Laurel Dewey as she visits and tells us about her latest publications.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Laurel Dewey’s writing career has been anything but predictable. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Dewey began her career working in public relations for such celebrities as Barbra Streisand and Frank Sinatra. Her writing talents quickly took her into other entertainment avenues. Dewey was an assistant editor at BOP Magazine, helping launch the blockbuster career of teen pop groups like The New Kids on The Block. During this time, she wrote a string of successful mystery radio plays for Los Angeles radio networks. The plays won Dewey consistent awards and caused one reviewer to write, “Dewey’s flair for creating memorable characters and great stories is a welcome change these days.”

Not satisfied to write in only one genre, Dewey went on to pen a western novella “In the Name of the Land” which was nominated for a Silver Spur Fiction Award. A collection of short stories followed, as did a successful stint writing and producing radio ads and promos.
In the early 1990’s, Dewey relocated to rural Colorado. But her eclectic writing forte continued as she pursued work as a freelance investigative journalist, advertising/marketing promoter and editor of children’s books. In the mid and late 1990’s, two of her books on plant medicine were published, along with 10 booklets and hundreds of articles on alternative health.During this time, she appeared as a featured guest on over 300 national radio and television programs and lectured extensively across the United States and Canada.

But now the pages have turned again…literally. In 2007, Dewey released her first fiction novel, Protector, a gritty, paranormal crime thriller that follows the rocky life of Denver homicide detective Jane Perry. In preparation for writing the book, Dewey immersed herself in detailed research, interviewing Colorado homicide detectives and traveling on “ride-a-longs” with street cops. The intricate research helped Dewey create a debut novel that is powerful, compelling and utterly original.

The sequel to Protector, Redemption, was released in June of 2009. She is currently writing the third book in the Jane Perry series, titled Revelations, due to be released July, 2010. She lives with her husband in rural Colorado.

You can visit Laurel Dewey at her website.

GUEST POST

The Creation and Birth of Jane Perry

By Laurel Dewey

“Are you Jane Perry?” I get asked thatquestion a lot when I meet people. The assumption seems to be that there is no way I could have written such a damaged, alcoholic, abrasive yet highly intuitive and intelligent woman unless I was writing about my own life. It makes sense, right? You’re always told as a writer to “write what you know.” And readers continually comment that Jane is “so real.”

Well, the truthis, I am not Jane Perry and I am Jane Perry.

HomicideDetective Jane Perry was literally born during long trips alone in my car. I’mnot sure the moment it happened, but I remember on one particularly long drivefrom Colorado to California, I just started talking out loud in the car—havinga dialogue with an unknown character—and telling this other character what Ifelt about my life as a detective. Wait…I’m not a detective. In fact, I can’teven stand the sight of blood. The only real homicide detective I ever knew wasmy friend’s father back in Los Angeles who worked some fairly gruesome, highprofile murder cases in the city. But here I was in the car, babbling on and onabout my life and my problems and my horrible past. The thing was, nothing Iwas complaining about was related to anything in my own life. During that drive, I continued to play out this imaginarycharacter and for some reason named her “Kate.”

I had nointention of writing about her at that point. It was just something to occupythe dull spaces during the drive. But on the drive back to Colorado, I begandelving even further into her life and by the time I returned to Colorado, I’dfleshed out a fairly real character.

And this went onfor literally years until I wentthrough what some might call my own “dark night of the soul.” That was in 1999.I had been very successful as a journalist and had written two books on plantmedicine that were extremely popular. But it all came crashing down in Januaryof 1999 when I lost every freelance writing account I’d had for years. I livedon my savings and by May those savings were gone. I scored a job as a landscapelaborer and worked from 7AM until 8PM, six days a week. It was back breakingbut it was work. However, depression set in like I’d never felt it before and Isensed an utter pointlessness to life. I began self-medicating with alcohol andI’d never been a drinker before. There were many horrible nights during thattime that I didn’t want to continue living. The self-destruction continued forthe rest of the year, culminating in a freak accident where I nearly burned offpart of my thumb.

That was it. Ididn’t give up; I gave in. I’d lived extremely frugally that summer and wasable to save some money. I decided that I would spend two months eitherallowing myself to just stare out the window or writing down whatever I wasfeeling. I was not married and I didn’t have children so I literally had theluxury of doing nothing. I think I spent about two days max staring out thewindow. That just got tedious. So, I started writing and lo and behold, “Kate”the homicide detective re-emerged and I wrote pages and pages about herchildhood, her life as a cop, her relationships and more. I had no idea wherethis was going but I allowed it…yes, Iallowed it for the first time in my life. And the more I allowed it toflow, suddenly a story formed around “Kate’s” life. Her past was shockinglybrutal (which was not part of my upbringing) but she was a hardcore drinker andthat was certainly something I could relate to. But the more I created thestory that later became my first novel, Protector,the more I began to heal myself. The catharsis was outrageous. With each page,I came back to myself more. By the time I finished the first draft sixteenmonths later (which was a whopping 650 pages), I was a different person. Abetter person.

I’d alwayssuffered from a lack of compassion for those who were alcoholics, depressed,suicidal and lost. But after one year of being all those things and delvinginto it via a novel, I grew a heart I didn’t know I had. No longer did I judgethose people; instead, I understood them. During this time, “Kate” became “JanePerry” and she ended up teaching me so much about myself. Through the evolutionof Jane Perry (and she does evolvegreatly through the series), I know I’ve made thousands of connections withreaders who share the same struggles with Jane. And I do think that besidestelling a suspenseful, page turning story, my goal is to show that even ifyou’ve experienced a brutal childhood and made a lot of mistakes in your youngyears, you can still emerge from that and not just survive, but excel and comeout the other side with a deeper appreciation for life. There’s something to besaid for emerging back into the light after drowning in the darkness. My hope isthat reading about Jane Perry’s trials and tribulations will make some peoplemore compassionate for those who still fight the good fight every day.

REVIEWS:

PROMISSORY PAYBACK by Laurel DeweyPublished by The Story Plant

ISBN-10: 1611880076

ISBN-13: 978-1611880076

Pages: 80

At the request of The Story Plant, a PDF EBook Edition of a double novelette, Promissory Payback and Unrevealed were provided, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.

Synopsis (from publisher): In PROMISSORY PAYBACK Jane is called in to investigate the gruesome murder of a woman who profited greatly from the misfortunes of others. The case leaves Jane with little question about motive…and

with a seemingly endless number of suspects.

My Thoughts and Opinion: This was my first introduction to both this author, Laurel Dewey and the character, Detective Jane Perry. Although it was only 80 pages, I instantly knew that I had been missing out on a very talented author. Within 80 pages she made the characters come to life and “transported” the reader into the plot. The writing style was fluid and very descriptive, which made it quite easy to create my own vivid visualizations as if I was watching a movie. The novelette was a stand alone read but gave hints of giving the reader to want more and to know more about this tough, street smart, but sensitive detective.

UNREVEALED by Laurel Dewey

Published by The Story Plant
ISBN-13: 9781611880236ISBN: 1611880238

Pages: 94

At the request of The Story Plant, a PDF EBook Edition of a double novelette, Promissory Payback and Unrevealed were provided, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.

Synopsis (from publisher): In UNREVEALED, Dewey gives us four indelible portraits of Jane Perry:
ANONYMOUS: One of Jane’s first AA meetings leads her to an encounter with a woman in need of her detection skills…and a secret she never expected to uncover.
YOU CAN’T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER: Forced by her boss to speak at a high school career day, Jane meets a troubled boy and finds that his story is only the beginning of a much more revealing tale.
YOU’RE ONLY AS SICK AS YOUR SECRETS: An early-morning homicide call introduces Jane to a mystery as layered as it is unsuspected.
THINGS AREN’T ALWAYS WHAT THEY SEEM: Jane finds herself sharing a 2:00 am conversation at a downtown bar with an old acquaintance. Will the bloody night that proceeded this moment complicate Jane’s intentions?

My Thoughts and Opinion: As I stated in my previous review, I had just found a new author and had much catching up to do. I enjoyed her writing style and most definitely her main character, Detective Jane Perry. Ms Dewey piqued my curiosity as to the so called “birth” of this new character that I wanted to read more about. However, on to the second novelette. Four (4) stories within a book of 94 pages? How in depth could it be? Could four (4) good suspenseful stories be told in 94 pages? To my utter amazement the answer was yes. The author wrote 4 descriptive concise short stories in 94 pages, that were so detailed, that I was engrossed to the point that I wasn’t aware of what was going on around me. The characters, once again, came to life and the writing was so detailed that I was able to create vivid images in my mind. My thoughts, I need to purchase the first book starring Detective Jane Perry. My opinion, if you enjoy reading from the genre of suspense, this is an author you need to read.

And this is my opinion and my opinion only, as for marketing, this would be a perfect solution for those times when a reader is in one of those “dreaded reader’s slumps”. It is a quick, yet detailed, descriptive, gripping story line whereas you know you aren’t going to have to invest a lot of time into a book, which sometimes, I know with me, is one of the reasons, it is hard for me to start getting back into the groove of reading. Or it would also be a perfect gift for those times when you need to purchase a “little something” such as a hostess gift, get well visit, teacher’s gift, Secret Santa (it’s right around the corner), etc.

Read an excerpt from PROMISSORY PAYBACK

Another victim. Another senseless, gruesome murder that she would add to the board at Denver Headquarters. When Sergeant Weyler called her half an hour ago, she hadn’t even finished her third cup of coffee. “This one is odd, Jane,” he told her with that characteristic tone in his voice that also suggested an evil tinge behind the slaying du jour. “Be prepared,” he said before hanging up. It was a helluva way to start a Monday morning.

As Jane drove her ’66 Mustang toward the crime scene in the toney section of Denver known as Cherry Creek, she tried to look on the bright side. If she’d still been a drinker, she’d be battling an epic hangover at that moment and doing her best to hide it from Weyler. But since becoming a friend of Bill W., her addictions involved healthier options such as jogging, buying way too many pounds of expensive coffee and even briefly joining a yoga group. She stopped attending the class only because the pansy-ass male instructor wasn’t comfortable with her setting her Glock in the holster to the side of her mat during class. Since she was usually headed to work after the 7 AM stretch session, Jane was obviously carrying her service weapon. She wasn’t about to leave it in her car or a locker at the facility. Nor would she be so careless as to hang it on one of the eco-friendly bamboo hooks that lined the yoga room.

So for Jane, it was obvious and more than natural for the Glock to lie next to her as she attempted the Salutation to the Sun pose and arched into Downward Facing Dog. In her mind, there was no dichotomy between the peacefulness of yoga and the brain splattering capacity of her Glock. As the annoying, high-pitched flute music played in the background—a sound meant to encourage calmness but which sounded more like a dying parakeet to Jane—she felt completely safe knowing that a loaded gun was inches from her grasp. The other people in the class, however, did have a problem and they showed it by arranging their mats as far from Jane as humanly possible. None of this behavior bothered Jane until the soy milk-chugging teacher took her aside and asked her to please remove the Glock from class. Since Jane wasn’t about to take orders from a guy in a fuchsia leotard who had a penchant for crying at least twice during class, she strapped her 9mm across her organic cotton yoga t! op and quit.

That’s what predictably happened whenever you shoved a square peg like Jane Perry in a round hole of people and situations that don’t understand the real world. Crime has a nasty habit of worming its way into the most unlikely places—churches, schools, sacred retreats and possibly yoga studios. The way Jane Perry looked at life, yoga might keep your flexible but a loaded gun kept you alive so you could continue being flexible. She knew what it felt like to be the victim of circumstance; to be held hostage by another person’s violent objective. Even though it was a long time ago, she’d never wash the stench from her memory. Her vow was always the same: Nobody would ever make Jane Perry a victim again.

But somebody apparently had made the old lady inside the Cherry Creek house a victim. Jane rolled to the curb and parked the Mustang, sucking the last microgram of nicotine from the butt of her cigarette. Squashing it onto the street with the heel of her roughout cowboy boots, she flashed her shield to the cops standing at the periphery and ducked under the yellow crime tape that was draped between the two precision-trimmed boxwood shrubs that framed the bottom of the long, immaculate brick driveway.

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.

Book Review, Guest Author, Showcase

Guest Author Laurel Dewey and Book Reviews "Promissory Payback and Unrevealed"

CMash October 1, 2011 3 Comments

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

You can visit Laurel Dewey at her website.

GUEST POST

The Creation and Birth of Jane Perry

By Laurel Dewey

Well, the truthis, I am not Jane Perry and I am Jane Perry.

REVIEWS:

PROMISSORY PAYBACK by Laurel DeweyPublished by The Story Plant

ISBN-10: 1611880076

ISBN-13: 978-1611880076

Pages: 80

At the request of The Story Plant, a PDF EBook Edition of a double novelette, Promissory Payback and Unrevealed were provided, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.

with a seemingly endless number of suspects.

UNREVEALED by Laurel Dewey

Published by The Story Plant
ISBN-13: 9781611880236ISBN: 1611880238

Pages: 94

At the request of The Story Plant, a PDF EBook Edition of a double novelette, Promissory Payback and Unrevealed were provided, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.