BOOK BLITZ: Watch Your Back by Stacy Claflin #thriller

Watch Your Back
Stacy Claflin
(Ariana Jones, #1)
Publication date: May 22nd 2022
Genres: Adult, Thriller

Even perfect neighborhoods have deadly secrets.

Ariana and Damon moved to the gated neighborhood of Rosy Hills to leave behind their traumatic pasts. Now they have their dream jobs and are part of a tight group of friends. All of that crumbles when their neighbor Rita disappears without a trace.

Now it looks like one of their own could be a killer. Ariana and Damon must figure out who it is, or they risk never finding Rita alive. If they don’t reach her in time, they could all end up dead…

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EXCERPT:

“Rita, where are you?” he called.

She readied herself to run again.

His footsteps sounded close. “Ready or not, here I come.”

She held her breath. Waited.

Had to get the shoes off.

“Rita…”

A shiver shot down her spine.

“You can’t hide forever,” he said, now sounding farther away.

Stomach lurching, she peeked around the corner.

He neared the swings, his back to her.

She loosened the buckle on her right pump. It stuck. Resisted.

Footsteps grew closer.

Now he was heading her way.

She froze. Tried to fix her buckle. Fumbled.

“There you are!”

Heart nearly giving out, she turned.

He stood halfway between the playground and her.

Rita leaped to her feet and ran. Her right shoe clung to her foot loosely, the buckle not fully undone. Made it hard to remain steady. She kicked, trying to free herself from it.

Finally lost it as she darted between bushes. Rough bark dug into her bare foot. Then concrete as she reached the sidewalk. Her hips protested the three-inch difference between her two feet, one shoed and the other not.

“Gotcha!” His arms wrapped around her middle. He squeezed.

She struggled and kicked, barely able to breathe. “Help! I’m being—”

He covered her mouth.

She bit his finger.

He swore at her. Didn’t let go. Pulled her back toward the park.

Rita squirmed and flailed. Scratched at him.

She wasn’t going down without a fight.

They flew to the ground.

She landed with a hard thud.

He crashed on top of her.

She pushed and strained to get out from under him.

“This could’ve all been avoided,” he grunted. “I only wanted to talk.”

“Could’ve fooled me.” She tried to push him off.

“Don’t you see we’re meant for each other?”

Rita almost laughed at the irony of his words. “This is your way of winning me back?”

“You have to see the obvious.”

The truth was clearer now than before. But pointing that out wouldn’t do any good. Just needed to get away. Get her phone back and call the cops.

Had to think fast.

“You think we can work things out?” she asked, and stopped resisting.

“If you’re willing to change.” He loosened his hold.

She bit back a sarcastic retort. Needed to get him to move off her. “What do you want me to do?”

“You have to stop flirting with guys at the bar, for starters,” he said, giving her more space.

Not enough to run.

“Let’s talk about that,” she said.

He rolled off her and started to say something.

Rita jumped up and ran.

He called after her.

She raced to the park. Through it.

He screamed profanities at her, getting closer.

She yelled for help. For all the good that would do.

Her restaurant came into view.

All she needed was to get to her car. Her fingerprint would start it. Thank God for technology. She’d lost her keys and purse somewhere along the way. Hadn’t even noticed when.

She reached her property.

Something hard struck the back of her head.

Rita flew forward. Landed hard on the ground, her car just out of reach.

Another hit to the head.

Everything went black.

Author Bio:

Stacy Claflin is a USA Today bestselling thriller author who has published more than 75 novels, including Girl in Trouble and The Perfect Death. She has always been curious about the human mind, and in her quest to learn more, she earned a degree in Psychology. Her favorite course was Abnormal Behavior, which has been useful in writing fiction.

Her love for thrillers goes back to her early childhood when she fell in love with Unsolved Mysteries and America’s Most Wanted. When Stacy was five, she got mad at a babysitter who wouldn’t let her watch the evening news. These days, she spends her free time listening to true crime podcasts or watching documentaries on the subject.

She has been telling stories for as long as she can remember, and as child would often get into trouble for trying to convince friends her wild tales were true. Now she puts her creativity to better use by writing page-turning stories that leave readers begging for more.

Stacy occasionally dabbles in other genres, so as you peruse her library of works, you’ll find some romance and paranormal tales, all with strong suspense elements.

Join Stacy’s newsletter to get three free novels: https://stacyclaflin.com/newsletter

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BOOK BLITZ: Saving Piper Moonlight by Joann Keder #Thriller

Saving Piper Moonlight
Joann Keder
(Piney Falls Mysteries, #2)
Publication date: July 13th 2020
Genres: Adult, Thriller

Piper has lived her entire childhood on the run. She’s about to uncover the deadly reason why…

In the second book of the Piney Falls Mysteries series, Piper Moonlight is tired of constantly looking over her shoulder, afraid of the remaining Fallen Branch cult members. She decides the best place to land is in Piney Falls, Oregon, where the cult originated. At least everyone there knows her story and she’ll be safe.

When she arrives, she finds employment under the watchful eye of Cosmo Hill, also a former Fallen Branch member, at his bakery. Cosmo doesn’t trust Piper or her story. He enlists the help of his fiancé , marketing wonder and super sleuth Lanie Anders to uncover the truth of Piper’s past.

Lanie and Cosmo soon discover there are still shocking secrets buried within the layers of the former cult. As those secrets come to light, those who keep them will stop at nothing to stay hidden. The ugly truth of Fallen Branch will force Lanie, Cosmo and Piper to make unthinkable choices to save themselves and the life they know in Piney Falls.

Goodreads / Amazon

EXCERPT:

“Can I ask–did you ever love me?”

There is laughter from the other room and a chill runs down his spine.

“I assumed we’d already discussed the uselessness of emotions. They get in the way. Imagine if I let that interfere during the last two decades. We wouldn’t be where we are, on schedule for the metamorphosis.”

“YOU wouldn’t be on schedule. The rest of us–well, me–would be fine. You don’t remember those times we were gardening at Fallen Branch, talking about the future? You said then you couldn’t picture anyone else by your side.”

“I couldn’t. That didn’t mean I loved you, though. You were the perfect partner…for a time. As you’ve said: you didn’t have control of your emotions and I could direct you easily. I gave you a list. You accomplished every bullet point.” The Killer stalks closer. “Is there anything you want them to know? I’m giving you this gift that we never gave the others. A thank you for your service. Let’s call it my ‘emotion’ for today.”

“Tell them I’m sorry. I wasn’t strong enough to continue by your side and I wasn’t smart enough to survive on my own.”

“That’s not at all what I thought you would say.”

“What did you expect? A lengthy speech? I’ve always left those to you.”

“I thought you might want them to know you were a brave soldier in our war. Kind of make them proud, at least.”

He throws his hands in the air. “I give up. You’ll make it your own story no matter what. I learned long ago that it’s impossible to please you. They’ll learn that soon enough.”

“I hope not.”

“Tell them…I tried. Just get on with it now. I can’t bear to think about it anymore.”

His killer hands him a cup. “Cheers, my friend. It was a good ride while it lasted.”

His hand brushes his killer’s and without looking up, he lifts it to his lips.


Author Bio:

USA TODAY bestselling author, Joann Keder spent most of her years in the Midwest, growing up and raising a family on the Great Plains of Nebraska. She worked for sixteen years as a piano teacher before returning to school to receive a master’s degree in creative writing. A mid-life move to the Pacific Northwest led her to re-examine her priorities. She now creates stories about life and relationships in small towns while her ever-patient husband encourages her on.

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BOOK BLITZ: The Devil Won’t Keep Us Apart by Shane T Clark #Thriller #ComingofAge

 

Coming of Age / Thriller

Date Published: April 27, 2023

Publisher:
MindStir Media


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“I realize that saying, The Devil Won’t Keep Us Apart, Shane Clark’s
gritty novel about friendship and revenge is masterfully paced and
suspenseful to the upmost degree sounds like the usual promotional B.S, but
honestly, people, this book kept me reading way past my bedtime, and I don’t
find many that can do that these days. I can’t wait to see what he comes up
with next.”

Donald Ray Pollock, author of Knockemstiff, The Heavenly Table, and The
Devil All The Time

 

Some vendettas can never be forgotten…

When Sherman Rehabilitation Center suffers its first murder in decades,
authorities race to find a motive as the media swarms. The brutality is
unprecedented, even in a prison setting. One week later,
eighty-seven-year-old Elmer Ray walks into the local Ohio Highway Patrol
Post, claiming he has the answers. First, they need to hear about the two
most interesting people in the world: Adrian Franklin and Conner
Wallace.

Adrian Franklin, the young neighbor of Elmer Ray, lived a troubled life of
neglect and abuse. He had a bad haircut and a worst nickname. The older man
tries to take the boy under his wing in a way no one else has ever done. For
Adrian, most see a quick temper and lost soul. Elmer sees something
different in him, a sense of loyalty and a yearning to be loved.

Conner Wallace, a British National, a drifter on a motorcycle, and a
pugilist with a quick wit, roamed the west and lived by an unbreakable moral
code that got him in more trouble than he bargained for. After a five-year
bit in a Nevada prison, he finds a safe haven in the underground fight scene
on the shores of the Pacific Ocean.

What does a young boy and foreigner have to do with a brutal prison murder
in the sleepy town of Sherman, Ohio? Only Elmer Ray knows the answers. And
he isn’t giving them until the Post Commander hears how their lives converge
with an Appalachian drug dealer, a sexual predator, and a mob boss to
influence the brutality in that prison cell.

 

The Devil Won’t Keep Us Apart is a shocking and raw account combining a
coming-of-age tale with a disturbing psychological thriller.

 

About the Author

Shane T Clark hails from Chillicothe, Ohio, where he lives with his wife
and four kids. He played football at Ohio State University, including in the
1997 Rose Bowl. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree and a Master’s Degree before
being employed by the State of Ohio for the past twenty-four years, and he
also has taught Sociology, Criminal Justice, and Deviant Behavior courses as
an adjunct professor for ten years.

An avid reader and traveler, he hopes to live in a van and travel nonstop
around the country when he retires. The Devil Won’t Keep Us Apart is his
first novel with at least two more on the way.

 

Contact Links 

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RELEASE BLITZ & GIVEAWAY: Guidance to Death by Daniel V Meier Jr #Murder #thriller @RABTBookTours @AuthorMeier

 

Frank Adams Series, Book One

 

Murder/Mystery Thriller

Date Published: 05-16-2023

Publisher: BQB Publishing

 

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It was cold and rainy, with low visibility. A perfect morning for sabotage.
The company jet carrying a Senior VP mysteriously crashes shortly after
taking off from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) says it was an accident.
The victim’s wife says it was murder. Frank Adams, an independent
aviation accident investigator has been hired to find out. Mounting evidence
and an additional murder convince Adams that there was indeed foul play.

As what seemed to be disparate events become increasingly linked, Frank
reveals a crime of international dimensions. Accustomed to working
independently, Frank is forced to call on the help of an old girlfriend as
well as a retired DC cop. But unraveling the truth could cost him his life
as well as the lives of his friends.

 

About the Author

A retired Aviation Safety Inspector for the FAA, Daniel V. Meier, Jr. has
always had a passion for writing. During his college years, he studied
History at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington (UNCW) and American
Literature at The University of Maryland Graduate School.  In 1980 he
published an Action/Thriller, Mendosa’s Treasure with Leisure Books
under the pen name of Vince Daniels.

He worked briefly for the Washington Business Journal as a journalist and
has been a contributing writer/editor for several aviation magazines.
Guidance to Death is a return to a favorite genre of his,
Action/Thriller/with the added intrigue of Murder/Mystery.

Other books by Dan are Blood Before Dawn, the sequel to the award-winning
novel, The Dung Beetles of Liberia. Bloodroot, also an Historical novel is
about the Jamestown settlement in the early 1600’s and No Birds Sing
Here, is a work of Satirical Literary Fiction.

Dan and his wife live in Owings, Maryland, about twenty miles south of
Annapolis and when he’s not writing, they spend their summers sailing on the
Chesapeake Bay.

 

Contact Links

Website

Facebook

Twitter

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LinkedIn

 

Purchase Links

Amazon

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SALE BLITZ: Dead Winter by Kevin G Chapman #Thriller #Mystery @RABTBookTours @KGChapman

Mystery / Thriller / Romance

Date Published: 11-22-2022

Publisher: First Legacy Publishing (Independent)

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Be careful what you wish for . . .

Rory McEntyre is a lonely trusts & estates attorney who plays the hero
inside video games. Then, his old flame, Monica, walks into his office with
a $60 million winning lottery ticket and a world of trouble.

Monica’s husband, Tom, is dead, apparently from a self-inflicted
gunshot. A homicide detective considers Monica a suspect, so Rory must be
her criminal lawyer. Thugs from Tom’s shady business think Monica has
incriminating evidence Tom stole from the company, so Rory must be her
protector. Most importantly, Rory must be Monica’s private detective,
because the winning lottery ticket is missing. As Monica and Rory search for
the ticket, their relationship heats up well beyond attorney and client.
Rory has the chance to win the girl of his dreams, but does he have what it
takes to be a real hero? And is Monica everything he wants to believe she
is? If he’s not careful, Rory could end up like Tom – a Dead
Winner.

 

Dead Winner is ON SALE for $0.99 May 15 to May 19! 

About the Author

Kevin G. Chapman is an attorney specializing in labor and employment law and an independent author. His Mike Stoneman Thriller series, includes Lethal Voyage, Winner of the Kindle Book Award, and Fatal Infraction, the #1 Police Procedural of the year (Chanticleer Book Review CLUE Award). Kevin’s latest is a stand-alone mystery/suspense/romance called Dead Winner. Kevin has also written a serious political drama, A Legacy of One (2016) and is currently working on two new mystery/thrillers due out in 2022 and 2023. Kevin is a resident of Central New Jersey and is a graduate of Columbia College and Boston University School of Law. Readers can contact Kevin via his website at http://www.KevinGChapman.com.

Contact Links

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Facebook

Twitter: @KGChapman

Blog

Goodreads

Purchase Link

$0.99 SALE – May 15 to May 19

Amazon

 

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BOOK TOUR: Carolina Callings Series by Travis Casey #Thriller @traviscasey1074 @SDSXXTours

Dark Alley to Power

Carolina Callings Book 3

by Travis Casey

Genre: Thriller

Yvette Tyson is making a run for the governor’s office. Her goal is clear. Win.

She has the backing of her boyfriend, Cory Logan. He is kind, gentle, and determined— and offers the kind of support an unmarried black woman needs to get into office. Their relationship has grown over the past year, and she had been seen arm-in-arm with him in public numerous times. She is proud to show him off, and him, her—so there is no color issue—or is that exactly what it is?

Does Cory need a black governor to get a sports center named after him?
Does Yvette need a white boyfriend to win that demographic to get elected?

All bets are off as convicts, ex-husbands, mistresses, unscrupulous family members, secret club affiliations, and manipulating the media are all part of the ammunition at a candidate’s disposal.

All parties are willing to take a
DARK ALLEY TO POWER

**New Release!**

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The Mayor’s Race

Carolina Callings Book 2

Cory Logan retired from boxing after winning millions of dollars, but he never won a world title. When he dies, all he’ll have is a headstone that no one will visit. To live in infamy, he wants a sports facility named after him. The only thing that stands in his way is the mayor of Hilton Head, who insists it be named after an African American.

Yvette Tyson is frustrated since she divorced her cheating husband. She struggles with her new life, embarrassed by her past and unable to gain the respect she once had. Does she really have to spend the rest of her life working the graveyard shift at the supermarket?

When Cory runs into Yvette, their past lives converge. It soon becomes clear that Yvette winning the mayor’s office would benefit both of them.

It’s a simple case of Black and White.

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No Halo Required

Carolina Callings Book 1

Isaiah Hightower has everything a forty-nine-year-old man could want: respect as a high school principal; admiration as a leader in the black community; and a wife who would do anything for him.

Despite his shining public image, Isaiah’s life is plagued with indiscretions. When these threaten to unravel his world, he silences the threat by any means necessary.

When his wife, Yvette, witnesses her husband’s greatest sin, her life is about to change forever. But it doesn’t have to. One lie will protect her lifestyle and save her husband’s reputation.

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Travis was brought up in Midwest America before embarking on a nine year Navy career that allowed him to travel the world and learn about life. He has ping-ponged across oceans moving from mainland United States to Hawaii, to Scotland, to Seattle, to England, to Minnesota, back to England, and back to Minnesota where he currently resides … for now

He writes easy-reading, light-hearted fiction and true stories about his own experiences that even the best fiction writer couldn’t make up. Relax by the beach or curl up on the couch on a rainy day while Travis takes you on fun-filled adventures that let you forget about life for a while and have a laugh.

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Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!

$20 Amazon

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BOOK TOUR: Once to Die by T.S. Epperson #Thriller @RRBookTours1

Welcome to the tour for the newly released thriller, Once to Die by T.S. Epperson. Read on for more!

OtD e-cover Final v12

Once to Die (The Other Side of Dead Book 1) Publication Date: March 28th, 2023 Genre: Thriller He imagined his death would be the end, but there is no rest in the afterlife… Perry is homeless, and desperate to get off the streets, after losing his best friend Bobby to gang violence. When Perry witnesses a drug deal, he finds his own life in peril. Father John is exhausted. Burned out after fifteen years of ministry, he seeks a sign that he is on the right path. At the driest point of his spiritual life, a beautiful woman is tempting him. He knows he is a soul in danger. When a murder victim shows up begging for help, he fears all hell is breaking loose. A young man wanders an existential maze between heaven and hell, good and evil. He darts between worlds involuntarily, terrifying a Catholic priest, a college professor, and a world-famous musician. Evil wants him, and time is running out. Mind-bending events erupt to threaten the spiritual foundations of both the living and the dead. Life, sanity, and salvation hang in the balance. With the veil between here and there in tatters, the very fabric of the universe seems to be unraveling. Available on Amazon

About the Author

T.S. Epperson is a pen name for Tom Epperson, a respectful nod to one of his literary heroes, T.S. Eliot. Everyone is on a unique journey. Tom was born the seventh of twelve siblings. He was an altar boy beginning at age seven, and a bar band musician beginning at age eight. His childhood was a happy rhythm of walking to daily Mass in the mornings and participating in music rehearsals in the evenings. On Friday and Saturday nights, as a young boy, he closed down the bars with the band and then served or attended Mass again Sunday morning. His life has been and still is, a constant effort to balance the worldly with the spiritual, as his writing reflects. He is fascinated by colorful, complex characters, and has had the privilege and challenge of interacting with many along the way. Tom is a hopeless optimist and a romantic realist. He is the proud father of two adult sons, the finest of the finest, and lives in South Carolina with his wife, who is his companion in a sweeping time travel adventure. So far, they have traveled nearly four and a half decades. Together, they strive to live more in the present than in the past, and his favorite activity is to stand in salt water and teach his grandchildren how to lure exotic creatures from the sea. Connect and learn more at http://multivalentpress.com/. Book Tour Organized By: R&R Button R&R Book Tours

SPOTLIGHT: Grave Secrets (Lost Souls Society) by Kate Allenton #psychic #thriller #suspense @kateallenton

Everyone has secrets, some deadlier than others. Psychic Ryley St. James’s secrets threaten to kill her, and now both the living and the dead are out for blood.

There’s nothing that Ryley hates worse than her father, but serial killers rank a close second. Alive or dead, they’re all the same—they need to be stopped. When a ghostly serial killer torments a young girl, Ryley must put an end to his reign of terror and figure out a way to shove him into the great beyond.

But when a fellow psychic turns up dead, and another one suddenly goes missing, Ryley suspects that it’s not just the ghostly threats she needs to worry about. There’s also a live predator lurking somewhere in the shadows.

As she gets closer to the truth, she’s forced to confront her own personal demons. Her father’s sinister presence is getting dangerously close to her life, the reapers are demanding answers, and the ghostly serial killer wants to add her to his body count.

It’s not a matter of if she’ll die but who will get credit for killing her first.

Preorder for April 6, 2023 at AMAZON

SNEAK PEEK…

Manhandling spirits was exactly what Ryley had planned for the evening. She wasn’t opposed to playing reaper to scare a ghost out of the little girl’s closet.   

“Are you sure you’ve got time for this? You know you don’t have to. I’m sure you’ve got to get to the bar,” Maggie said, standing in the doorway of her daughter’s bedroom.  

Maggie was one of the few friends that accepted Ryley for who she was. It helped that they could both see spirits and talk to the dead, but that was where their similarities ended. Ryley’s extended to being able to shove lingering spirits into the light.   

“Kent’s working the bar. He won’t care if I’m a little late.”   

Ryley gestured to Maggie’s wrist. “I’m digging your new ability to accessorize.”  

“Emily Jane made it for me.” Maggie grinned and twisted the pink and purple beaded bracelet around on her arm to show Ryley that Maggie’s name was spelled with white beads in the middle.  

“I bet you wore the pasta necklace, too, when she made it in daycare.”  

“She’s my daughter. I cherish all of her gifts, and look, she even picked my favorite colors.”  

Pink and purple were elegantly splashed around the house, including in Emily Jane’s closet.  

“I tried to deal with this spirit by myself, but I can’t get the sucker to come out for me,” Maggie said, leaning against the doorframe.  

“It’s fine,” Ryley said.  

Maggie glanced at her watch. “I’m sorry it’s so late. I tried calling Rose again and she hasn’t called me back. I left her a message to see if she’d come over and help.”  

“The closet creeper is probably scared of you and your sister.” Ryley glanced at Emily Jane sitting on the bed behind her. “I bet you didn’t know your momma is a ghostbuster.”  

Emily Jane giggled. “No, she’s not. She’s a waitress at the diner.”  

“It’s her secret identity,” Ryley said, holding in her grin and returning her gaze to her friend Maggie. “She hunts ghosts on the weekends when she’s not with you, and by day, she’s making sure we’re fed. She’s the real hero, and one day she’s going to share her very secret coveted apple pie recipe. It’s my favorite.”  

“I’ll tell you what; you get rid of this bast…bad ghost, and I’ll steal the recipe for you,” Maggie offered.  

Emily Jane covered her hand with her mouth. “Momma, stealing is bad.”  

“You’re so right. I’ll just borrow it and return it when I’m done.” Ryley winked.   

Emily Jane nodded her head as if that was an okay substitute.   

“Okay, go back to the living room before you scare this one away again. We’ve got work to do,” Ryley said.   

“You sure you don’t need me to stay?”  

“Nope, you can take your ghostbusting mojo back into the kitchen. I’ve got this.”   

“Okay.” Maggie kissed her daughter and began to close the door.  

“Please don’t close it,” Emily Jane said, the fear evident in her voice.   

Emily Jane could see ghosts, and she was just at the age that they scared her.  

Something Ryley and Maggie had been working on.   

It was hard for a seasoned psychic like Ryley to remember being a little girl and scared in a room where a sliver of hall light shined through the partially opened door. Hand drawings of flowers of every shape and size covered the pink walls, and glow-in-the-dark fluorescent green stars were stuck to the ceiling.  

When Ryley was Emily Jane’s age, a menacing dead guy in the closet would have scared her, too. Not so much now as an adult.   

Ryley didn’t usually handle haunted cases that didn’t directly involve her home or her life, but this case was special.   

Emily Jane was unique. The scared and haunted look in the six-year-old’s eyes was real.   

Ryley had seen that same look in the mirror more times than she ever cared to admit.   

Emily Jane was scared, and Ryley intended to stop the haunting in its track.   

The music box with the dancing ballerina playing across the room should have soothed Emily Jane. The soft non-threatening melody played three times in the first thirty minutes they’d been waiting for the real nightmare to show up.   

It might have worked if a living person had started the damn thing and not a ghostly apparition from someone long dead.  

The smell of roses from a grandmotherly energy lingered in the air as if trying to soothe Emily Jane’s fears.   

Ryley’s nose twitched as she fought a sneeze before squirming on the hardwood floors, trying to get comfortable to no avail. She hadn’t thought to use a pillow.  

“You want one of my pillows? I can share.” Emily Jane said from the comfort of her bed.  

“You can keep them. I’m good where I am,” Ryley lied.  

Honestly, she hadn’t thought she’d be in the room long enough to need one. Ghosts seemed to gravitate toward her no matter what the environment.  

That was thirty minutes ago. Now she was pondering the need for a sleeping bag. This floor was going to be hell on her back.   

No matter. She wasn’t leaving until she saw more action than the music-box-loving ghost.   

“Grandma visit often?” Ryley asked.  

“Sometimes. I’m not scared of her. She keeps me company.”  

That was good to know. Ryley hadn’t even met her grandparents.  

The room turned darker, right before her eyes. She felt the tense vibe of energy hiding in the shadows where evil and monsters lurked. Ryley inhaled the heavy energy. It weighed on her chest, making it difficult to breathe, like ten thick blankets on a hot summer night.   

Scratch. Scratch. Scratch.  

Emily Jane pointed toward the closet door as if there was any question about where the sound originated.   

It was about damn time.   

Ryley held her fingers to her lips, afraid she might scare the ghosts off.   

Emily Jane whimpered, pulling the comforter in front of her, taking a defensive position on the bed surrounded by her stuffed animals.  

Those animals were no protection, not even if she used them as projectiles. Ryley knew firsthand.   

“He’s here.” Her little voice came out in a whisper.   

Ryley shoved off the floor to stand up.   

Her muscles ached in protest, but no way was she letting this chance escape.   

The doorknob started to jiggle like someone inside the closet was trying unsuccessfully to open it and get out.   

Emily Jane ducked beneath the covers, unwilling to look.  

“Don’t be scared.” Ryley grabbed her bag of supplies and pulled out the salt container, spreading it in a strong line in front of Emily Jane’s closet door.   

 “This salt line should keep the ghost in the closet from getting out. And just in case, I’ll sage your room, too, before I leave. Tonight, you’ll sleep good, and I’ll come back tomorrow to do it again.”  

“You promise no one will get me?” Emily Jane asked without moving the sheet.   

“Come look with me. They can’t hurt you.” Ryley held out her hand.  

“No.” Her voice cracked, and her hold on the blanket started to shake.   

“One day, you will have to face these guys and stick up for yourself. They’re scared of girls that know how to protect themselves.”  

“Did you ever have monsters in your closet?”  

She had worse than that. Her monsters were both alive and dead.   

The closet handle stilled, and Ryley wrapped her palm around it. It was ice cold to the touch. Whispers from the other side grew louder.   

She threw open the door. A gangly man stared back at Ryley.  

He grinned, showing her his missing tooth.   

Ryley’s breath caught in her throat.  

His clothes were of prison blue. The number on his shirt was 52678.   

The scent of the sweet little girl was long gone, replaced by cigarette smoke and sweat. An eerie reminder of Ryley’s own childhood ghostly haunting.  

The memory slid down her spine like an avalanche.   

She swallowed around the lump in her throat, taking a step back, refusing to take her eyes off the closet for fear the ghost would attack.  

Ghosts like this always did.   

There was a twitch in the ghost’s eye just as every hanger in the closet flew off the hooks and straight in her direction.  

Her hands flew up to block her face, just as the wire hangers scratched and drew blood against her bare arms and cheek.  

One caught her on the side of the face near her eye, digging in deeper than the rest.   

Emily Jane’s scream vibrated off the walls while she ran from the room.   

When the projectiles stopped, Ryley peeked beneath her arms to find the ghostly prisoner grinning.  

Her breath shuddered as her gaze landed on the salt line. Her eyes narrowed to slits. “You want to play?”  

His evil grin grew as he tried to fly out of the closet, reaching for her neck. The salt line kept him away.  

Anger replaced the smile.   

Ryley bumped against the dresser, knocking over a frame as she reached behind her, making her way around the furniture and out of the room.   

“You’ve screwed with the wrong girl. Don’t go anywhere. I’m coming right back to finish you off.” She stepped out, closing the bedroom door behind her.  

“What happened?” Maggie was at the end of the hall on her knees, comforting Emily Jane in her embrace.  

“Oh my god, you’re bleeding.” Panic laced Maggie’s voice.   

Emily Jane’s white, fearful face shined as tears slid down her cheeks. “I can’t go back in there.”  

Yet. You can’t go back in there yet,” Ryley said, stepping around them and heading to the door. “And I wasn’t hurt, just a few scratches.”   

“Where are you going? Who was in there?”   

“I’m just going out to the car. I’m going to need more supplies to deal with this.”   

Maggie was quick to follow behind.  

Ryley yanked open the door and popped her trunk, unzipping the bag she only pulled out in the event of emergencies when dealing with darker entities.   

She pulled out the container of black salt and the spray bottle of holy water.   

Maggie’s eyes widened as Ryley returned with the new items in hand.  

“Is that black salt?”  

“Yeah, a friendly FBI agent sent me some in the mail after I helped her and her team with a problem in Phoenix. She said to only use it in dire circumstances.” Ryley was still coming to terms with the fact that the FBI employed witches and more on a special team designed to deal with unseen threats.   

“And you think this is dire?”  

“Just extra precaution.” Ryley touched Maggie’s arm and lowered her voice. “Whoever the hell that is, he’s strong, and he’s not going to go willingly.”  

A look of defeat flashed in Maggie’s eyes.  

“I’m going to get rid of him from her room tonight, and I’ll come back tomorrow and do the entire house.”  

Maggie rubbed her neck. “Emily Jane had to have been so scared.”   

“I’m sorry, Maggie,” Ryley said, heading back inside the house.  

“We’ll deal with it like we always do.” Maggie ran her hands over her face. “What’s in the spray bottle?”  

Ryley grinned. “Holy water.”  

“You have a friend that sent you that too?”  

“Let’s just say, if you have some demons to expel, I probably wouldn’t go to the catholic church on Hwy 98. I borrowed some of their holy water and replaced it with water from the tap.”  

Ryley walked over to a water gun lying among Emily Jane’s pool toys sitting on the washer and took it to the kitchen, filling it up with some holy water from her sprayer while Emily Jane looked on, hopeful.  

Ryley handed it to her. “Anything comes near you, you spray it.”   

New to the Lost Souls Society series? Get Book 1 for only $0.99 for a limited time!

ABOUT KATE ALLENTON

Kate is a USA Today Bestselling Author who has lived in Florida for most of her entire life. She enjoys a quiet life with her husband, Michael and two kids.

Kate has pulled all-nighters finishing her favorite books and also writing them. She says she’ll sleep when she’s dead or when her muse stops singing off key.

She loves creating worlds full of suspense, secrets, hunky men, kick ass heroines, steamy sex and oh yeah the love of a lifetime. Not to mention an occasional ghost and other supernatural talents thrown into the mix.

Find her online: Facebook | Twitter | Website

BOOK TOUR: Got Trouble by Dave Dobson #thriller @RRBookTours1 @GCDaveDobson

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Welcome to the book tour for Got Trouble by Dave Dobson! Read on for more details and an exclusive excerpt!

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Got Trouble

Publication Date: January 3rd, 2023

Genre: Thriller

Trouble can find you anywhere

When your day starts at 11 pm, it’s a long way to sunrise. Glynnis Cary is stuck working as a night manager at the Gas-O-Mart. Her husband Keith’s idea of romance is buying her grocery store flowers, usually only when he comes home drunk. Her son is in trouble at school, skipping out with his girlfriend, and keeping secrets. Big secrets, ones that may turn out to be both lucrative and felonious. Keith’s bumbling unexpectedly makes Glynnis the target of multiple murderous enemies and a lot of bullets. Way more bullets than is reasonable. On the run with a new friend, one whose life she’s just inadvertently destroyed, Glynnis has to rely on her gut, her grit, and her ability to spin big lies to find a way to survive.

Got Trouble is a new novel of suspense, thrills, humor, and one woman’s attempt to just have something go right. For once. For crying out loud.

Content warnings: Coarse language, some gun violence

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Her breath was still coming fast. She tried to calm herself down, but that was nearly impossible. Her rear right window was a web of silver-green cracks. There was a jagged hole in the lower back corner, framed with a splash of radial lines and white fragments. She had no idea where the bullet landed. Or where the other one that had hit the car had struck. Or if it had hit anything important. The car had shown no ill effects in driving, and the gas tank hadn’t exploded. Or whatever it should do. She suddenly felt the need to look down at herself. Her breath sped up again. She’d heard of people not realizing they were shot. But she seemed to be unharmed. She lifted her sweatshirt, looking for blood, and felt all over her arms and back, but she seemed to be whole. She realized she wasn’t wearing her seat belt, and she felt guilty. Then she felt like that was stupid, because taking the time to buckle in would have gotten her shot and killed. Then she felt like THAT was stupid, because if she ever had needed a seat belt, it was when she was flying out of a parking lot in a hail of gunfire.

Available on Amazon

About the Author

DaveDobson

A native of Ames, Iowa, Dave loves writing, reading, boardgames, computer games, improv comedy, pizza, barbarian movies, and the cheaper end of the Taco Bell menu. Also, his wife and kids.

In addition to his novels, Dave is the author of Snood, Snoodoku, Snood Towers, and other computer games. Dave first published Snood in 1996, and it became one of the most popular shareware games of the early Internet. His most recent project (other than writing) is Doctor Esker’s Notebook, a puzzle card game in the spirit of escape rooms.

Dave taught geology, environmental studies, and computer programming at Guilford College for 24 years, and he does improv comedy every week at the Idiot Box in Greensboro, North Carolina. He’s also played the world’s largest tuba in concert. Not that that is relevant, but it’s still kinda cool.

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BOOK TOUR: Deaf Row by Rom Franscell #Thriler #CrimeFiction @ronfranscell

Deaf Row

by Ron Franscell

Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Crime Fiction

Retired from a big-city homicide beat to a small Colorado mountain town, ex-detective Woodrow “Mountain” Bell yearns only to fade away. He’s failed in so many ways as a father, a husband, friend, and cop that it might be too late for a meaningful life. When he stumbles across a long-forgotten, unsolved child murder, his first impulse is to let it lie … but he can’t. He’s drawn into the macabre mystery when he realizes the killer might still be near. Without help from ambivalent local cops, Bell must overcome the obstacles of time, age, and a lack of police resources by calling upon the unique skills of the end-of-the-road codgers he meets for coffee every morning—a club of old guys who call themselves Deaf Row. Soon, this mottled crew finds itself on a collision course with a serial butcher.

|DEAF ROW is more than a tense mystery novel, more than an unnerving psychological thriller drawn from Ron Franscell’s career as a bestselling true-crime writer and journalist. It is also a novel of men pushing back against time and death, trying not to disappear entirely. DEAF ROW is a moving, occasionally humorous, portrait of flawed people caught in a web of pain and regret. And although you might think you know where this ghastly case is headed, the climax will blindside you.

What made you switch from true crime to crime fiction?

My true crimes are the product of old-school research and investigation. I’m an old-fashioned reporter who believes in first-hand, up-close sensory experiences that tell me everything I want to tell a reader. I write narrative nonfiction, in which I tell utterly true stories with some tools from a novelist’s toolbox—foreshadowing, character development, setting details, etc.—a reading experience that relies heavily on the tiniest details of what I can see, hear, taste, smell, and feel. I can only get that from having my boots on the ground in the places where it happened, talking to people who might have lived it. That richness has set my true-crime apart from more formulaic books.

Then along comes Covid. Suddenly, in a spasm of global lockdown, I can’t book a hotel room, dine out in a restaurant, find a motel room, enter courthouse or libraries … and I certainly can’t talk face-to-face with the few hundred people I typically interview for my kind of richly reported true-crime book.

So in early 2020 I locked myself in my office alone with 40 years of experience, stories, and ghosts of telling true crime stories, and I breathed life into those old farts of Deaf Row.

Which is harder: True crime or crime fiction?

In my career, I’ve written a literary novel, a few mysteries, a road-trip memoir, and more than a dozen true-crime books. I’ve also written maybe a thousand newspaper articles, three screenplays, countless blogs, and a couple poems. What I’ve learned is that each genre has its own unique conventions. Think of it this way: A news anchorwoman, a songwriter, a poet, and a film director are all storytellers. They might all have a special affection for language, but what about being an anchorwoman naturally makes her a poet? What about being a filmmaker makes him a natural songwriter? Really, nothing.

So, it is with writing true crime and crime fiction. The leap might not seem as great between two thematically related literary pursuits, but the realms of nonfiction and fiction are separate universes.

In some ways, the true-crime writer has an easier job. He needn’t imagine a plot, characters, setting, a message, or anything else except maybe the structure of his story. But on the other hand, the mystery writer isn’t constrained by what ACTUALLY happened and can solve plot predicaments by simply imagining a solution.

Another interesting difference comes when you tell the reader up front “This is a true story” or “I made this up.” Fiction readers give an author a wide berth; they suspend their disbelief and allow the storyteller some leeway between what is likely and what is possible. The nonfiction writer tells you on the front cover “This is a true story” so readers don’t suspend their disbelief, they don’t give permission to be elegantly gaslighted, and they are quick to declare the author to be a lying charlatan and throw the book across the room. It’s why we can love a movie about blue people in a different universe, but be angry with a TV weatherman.

So even though I’ve written both true crime and crime fiction, I can’t declare one easier than the other. To me, they’re as different as writing a history book or a song. They’re both hard.

If a beginning writer asked me which genre she should pick, I’d say it doesn’t matter. I advise that she become an ardent student of the form, to learn everything she can about how it’s done, then the rest is easy. You just sit down at your word processor and let the blood ooze from your forehead.

Do your characters talk to you?

I’ve heard a lot of writers say they carry on conversations with their characters. Somebody studied this recently: 63% of authors said they heard their characters speak while writing, and 61% swore their characters were capable of acting independently and some said they actually carried on dialogue with these imaginary beings. When I hear a fellow writer say stuff like that, I usually take a subtle step backward. Hearing voices in your head is a symptom of schizophrenia and I just don’t want to take any chances.

BUT … I must think and behave on my characters’ behalf. Think about it this way: We all imagine hearing the voices of other people when we think about how an argument might have gone differently, or how someone we know is likely to respond to the news we’re about to give them. That’s just our normal thought process.

My imaginary characters live the life I give them and no more. I am sometimes surprised by what my subconscious produces, but I’m not possessed or surrounded or dependent on my characters. I don’t feel their physical presence or smell them or touch them or hear them. There’s no doubt in my mind who’s in charge.

Any advice for young or beginning writers?

Beware of anyone who offers magic beans. There are no magic beans. Anybody who says he knows the secret that will make you a bestselling author is probably trying to sell you a book. The tricks are no tricks at all: Practice. Stay organized. Keep files. Practice some more. Study people. Take clear notes. Write down every pertinent thought. Practice more. Don’t get overwhelmed. You’ll know when you know enough. Once you have all the ingredients, you’ll know it’s time to start. And practice.

What’s your next book?

I haven’t retired from true crime but my next manuscript is a sequel to DEAF ROW. In fact, it’s a fiction closely based on a real-life crime. I’ve done a lot of research into the facts of that case, which is one of the funner parts of my true-crime writing. But I’ve also enjoyed getting to know Woodrow Bell and the boys of Deaf Row a lot better. So, I’ve been able to blend some of the best of both the real and imaginary worlds. It’s its own kind of challenge.

Do you see writing as a potential career?

LOL. I’m still practicing.

A veteran journalist, Ron Franscell is the New York Times bestselling author of 18 books, including international bestsellers “The Darkest Night” and Edgar-nominated true crime “Morgue: A Life in Death.” His newest, “ShadowMan: An Elusive Psycho Killer and the Birth of FBI Profiling,” was released in March by Berkley/Penguin-Random House.

His atmospheric and muscular writing—hailed by Ann Rule, Vincent Bugliosi, William Least-Heat Moon, and others—has established him as one of the most provocative American voices in narrative nonfiction.

Ron’s first book, “Angel Fire,” was a USA Today bestselling literary novel listed by the San Francisco Chronicle among the 100 Best Novels of the 20th Century West. His later success grew from blending techniques of fiction-writing with his daily journalism. The result was dramatic, detailed, and utterly true storytelling.

Ron has established himself as a plucky reporter, too. As a senior writer at the Denver Post, he covered the evolution of the American West but shortly after 9/11, he was dispatched by the Post to cover the Middle East during the first months of the War on Terror. In 2004, he covered devastating Hurricane Rita from inside the storm.

His book reviews and essays have been widely published in many of America’s biggest and best newspapers, such as the Washington Post, Chicago Sun-Times, San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury-News, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and others. He has been a guest on CNN, Fox News, NPR, the Today Show, ABC News, and he appears regularly on crime documentaries at Investigation Discovery, Oxygen, History Channel, Reelz, and A&E.

He lives in northern New Mexico.

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