Well, my mind is officially blown. I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning two days in a row. The deeper into the book I went, the action, danger, betrayal, brutality, savagery sociopathic and psychopathic action became. At every time, they swept me off my feet, filling me with disgust, barely able to keep from gagging over the things done to John Sims.
I knew Ashley Fontainne could pen an off the chart novel, but this is my introduction to Janelle Taylor. They are both now must read authors for me.
Operation DFC – Die for Country
Operation DFC – Die for Cathy
Operation Seek and Destroy
John Sims had been a POW, so when the CIA recruited him for his first mission, to save POWs and MIAs, he never hesitated when Dave Carter asked him, “So, you’re willing to die?” His answer, “Absolutely.”
John thought the service would give him freedom from the brutality of his father, but he hadn’t anticipated the price. He knew what it was to be tortured and starved, kept prisoner for two years by the North Vietnamese, before he was rescued, the sole survivor of his unit.
I was a teenager during the Vietnam War. I remember a lot of things about it, The Draft, Agent Orange, not being allowed to win and how the service men were treated when they came home. I used to read a lot of WWII & Vietnam history and novels. I cannot imagine what it would be like, whisked from the life you have in the United States and plopped down in the jungle, in the desert.
In John’s case, he also gave up his past, his present and maybe even his future, hiding his real name, breaking all ties with family and friends. BUT, he would keep secret Cathy, his first love and the love of his life and Brad, his best friend that looks out for Cathy, Brad’s cousin, when John was away.
John has no idea what is coming, and neither did I. It was so much more than I expected, even though I knew Ashley Fontainne was capable of doing most anything to her characters. Now, I see that Janelle Taylor will too, so I will be looking for more of her work in the future.
My emotions were all over the place: angry, surprised, shocked, appalled, terrified, sad, heartbroken, horrified, furious, devastated…I could go on and on, looking up words and synonyms to describe my feelings.
I never saw half of what was coming throughout the novel. I read and read, not even thinking about when I would reach the end. I was just reading to find out what came next…UNTIL…DAMMIT…there was no more. I never even thought about it being a series. I guess you could say there is a cliffhanger, because the characters mission is not complete. Now it’s time for Lewis Roger Lee Bradford (Wolfman) from Shreveport, Louisiana to seek retribution. Black Viper, Red Dog, and Raccoon will be along for the ride and they are out for blood.
I sure do hope you Ladies are writing fast!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Operation DFC by Janelle Taylor & Ashley Fontainne.
5 Stars
AMAZON SYNOPSIS
I came to rescue my imprisoned brothers, but now I’m one.
Arriving in Thailand for my first black-op, Operation DFC, as part of an elite team ready to act on recent intel that over a thousand men and/or their remains are still behind enemy lines, Bangkok is our last stopping point before slipping into Vietnam and extracting as many American prisoners as possible.
For me, this is personal. From 1971 to 1973, I was a POW; and now, ten years later, I work for the CIA under the fake identity of John Sims, Field Expert for Crop World, an international firm run by the agency.
While in my hotel room, the unthinkable happens. Bangkok may end up being my greatest challenge as my courage, patriotism, and honor are on the line, and I find myself in the toughest physical and mental battle of my life, wondering if Operation DFC will be my first, and last, covert mission.
ABOUT JANELLE TAYLOR
The legendary Janelle Taylor was born on June 28, 1944 in Athens, GA. In 1965, she married Michael Taylor with whom she had two children, Angela Taylor-MacIntyre and Alisha Taylor Thurmond. Ms. Taylor attended the Medical College of Georgia from 1977 to 1979 and Augusta State University from 1980-1981. She withdrew from the latter after she sold her first two novels. Today, she is the author of thirty-nine novels, three novellas, and many contributions to other collections. There are thirty-nine million copies of her works in print worldwide and she has made The New York Times Bestseller List eight times. Ms. Taylor’s works have also been featured ten times on the “1 million +” bestseller’s list at Publisher’s Weekly.
Some of Ms. Taylor’s most recent books include By Candlelight, Someday Soon, Lakota Dawn, and Lakota Winds (due out in paperback in May 1999). She has also made contributions to other books including The Leukemia Society Cookbook, Christmas Rendezvous, and Summer Love. In addition, readers can see her as co-host of the QVC/TV Romance Book Club Show.
Ms. Taylor’s interests include collecting spoons, coins from around the world, ship models, dolls, and old books. She loves to fish, ride horses, play chess, target-shoot, travel (especially in her motorhome and out West), hunt for Indian relics, and take long walks with her husband. Reading, in particular books set before 1900 and current Biographies, Thrillers, Horror, or Fantasy novels, is also one of Ms. Taylor’s favorite activities. She is also extremely active with charity work and was even featured on the cover of Diabetes Forecast in February of 1998.
She lives in the country on seventy-nine acres of woods and pasture with a lake and a catfish pond. She writes her novels in a Spanish cottage which overlooks a five-acre lake, a working water mill, gazebo, and covered bridge.
Award-winning and International bestselling author Ashley Fontainne enjoys stories that immerse the reader deep into the human psyche and the monsters lurking within each of us. She writes in numerous genres including mystery, suspense, horror, sci-fi and sometimes poetry.
Ashley lives in Arkansas with her husband and is the proud mother of one son and grateful daughter of co-author, Lillian Hansen. To learn more about her books please visit https://ashleyfontainne.net/
Israel: A drone-based terrorist attack kills dozens on a sun-splashed beach in Caesarea.
Washington: America awakens to the shattering news that Vice President Stephanie Davenport has died of an apparent heart attack.
That same morning, a chance encounter on the Washington Metro results
in international private investigator Robert Brixton thwarting an
attempted terrorist bombing. Brixton has no reason to suspect that the
three incidents have anything in common, until he’s contacted by Kendra
Rendine, the Secret Service agent who headed up the vice president’s
security detail. Rendine is convinced the vice president was murdered
and needs Brixton’s investigative expertise to find out why.
In Israel, meanwhile, legendary anti-terrorist fighter Lia Ganz
launches her own crusade against the perpetrators of that attack which
nearly claimed the lives of her and granddaughter. Ganz’s trail will
ultimately take her to Washington where she joins forces with Brixton to
uncover an impossible link between the deadly attack on Caesarea and
the attempted Metro bombing, as well as the death of the vice president.
The connection lies in the highest corridors of power in Washington
where a deadly plot with unimaginable consequences has been hatched.
With the clock ticking toward doomsday, Brixton and Ganz race against
time to save millions of American lives who will otherwise become
collateral damage to a conspiracy destined to change the United States
forever.
Praise :
“Jon Land is one of the best thriller writers in the business, and
the Capital Crimes series is in superb and skilled hands with him.
Nobody does pacing better than Land, and MURDER ON THE METRO starts with a bang and keeps on going at breakneck speed. If you haven’t read this excellent series, start with Land’s MURDER ON THE METRO.” —Lisa Scottoline, #1 New York Times bestselling author
Book Details:
Genre: Thriller Published by: Forge Books Publication Date: February 16th 2021 Number of Pages: 288 ISBN: 1250238870 (ISBN13: 9781250238870) Series: A Capital Crimes Novel, #32 Purchase Links:Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads
Tour Info:
Book Formats: Print, Netgalley Hosting Options: Review, Interview, Guest Post, Showcase Giveaway: There will be a PICT Giveaway More: According to the author Murder on the Metro does not
include: Excessive Strong Language, Graphic Violence, Explicit Sexual
Scenes, Rape, or other trigger situations. It does contain what some may
consider to be: Steamy Clean (mild language, mild sexual tension and
innuendo, no sex scenes) content. PICT staff have not read this book,
however and cannot give additional information.
Read an excerpt:
CHAPTER 1
Washington, DC; the next morning
Not again . . .
That was Robert Brixton’s first thought when his gaze locked on the
woman seated across from him in the Washington Metro car. He was riding
into the city amid the clutter of morning commuters from the apartment
in Arlington, Virginia where he now lived alone, his girlfriend Flo
Combes having returned to New York.
Former girlfriend, Brixton corrected in his mind. And Flo’s return to
New York, where she’d opened her first clothing boutique, looked very
much like it was for good this time.
Which brought his attention back to the woman wearing a hijab and
bearing a strong resemblance to another Muslim woman who’d been haunting
his sleep for five years now, since she’d detonated a suicide bomb
inside a crowded DC restaurant, killing Brixton’s daughter Janet and
eleven other victims that day. He’d seen it coming, felt it anyway, as
if someone had dragged the head of a pin up his spine. He hadn’t been a
cop for years at that point, having taken his skills into the private
sector, but his instincts remained unchanged, always serving him well
and almost always being proven right.
But today he wanted to be wrong, wanted badly to be wrong. Because if
his instincts were correct, tragedy was about to repeat itself with him
bearing witness yet again, relocated from a bustling café to a crowded
Metro car.
The woman wearing the hijab turned enough to meet his gaze, Brixton
unable to jerk his eyes away in time and forcing the kind of smile
strangers cast each other. The woman didn’t return it, just turned her
focus back forward, her expression empty as if bled of emotion. In
Brixton’s experience, she resembled a criminal who found strange solace
in the notion of being caught after tiring of the chase. That was the
suspicious side of his nature. If not for a long career covering various
aspects of law enforcement, including a private investigator with
strong international ties, Brixton would likely have seen her as the
other passengers in the Metro car did: A quiet woman with big soft eyes
just hoping to blend in with the scenery and not attract any attention
to herself.
Without reading material of any kind, a cell phone in her grasp, or
ear buds dangling. Brixton gazed about; as far as he could tell, she was
the only passenger in sight, besides him, not otherwise occupied to
pass the time. So in striving not to stand out, the young woman had
achieved the opposite.
He studied her closer, determining that the woman didn’t look tired,
so much as content. And, beneath her blank features, Brixton sensed
something taut and resigned, a spring slowly uncoiling. Something,
though, had changed in her expression since the moment their eyes had
met. She was fidgeting in her seat now, seeking comfort that clearly
eluded her.
Just as another suicide bomber had five years ago
If he didn’t know better, he would’ve fully believed he was back in
that DC restaurant again, granted a second chance to save his daughter
after he’d failed so horribly the first time.
***
Five years ago
What world are you in? Janet had asked a clearly distracted Brixton, then consumed by the nagging feeling dragged up his spine.
Let’s go.
Daddy, I haven’t finished!
Janet always called him “Daddy.” Much had been lost to memory from
that day, forcibly put aside, but not that or the moments that followed.
It had been the last time she’d ever called him that and Brixton had
fought to preserve the recording that existed only in his mind
resolvedly ever since. Whenever it faded, he fought to get it back,
treating Janet’s final address of him like a voicemail machine message
from a lost loved one forever saved on his phone.
Come on.
Is something wrong?
We’re leaving.
Brixton had headed to the door, believing his daughter was right
behind him. He realized she wasn’t only when he was through it, turning
back toward the table to see Janet facing the Muslim woman wearing the
hijab who was chanting in Arabic.
Janet!
He’d started to storm back inside to get her when the explosion
shattered the placid stillness of the day, an ear-splitting blast that
hit him like a Category Five wind gust to the chest and sent him
sprawling to the sidewalk. His head ping-ponged off the concrete,
threatening his grip on consciousness. Parts of a splintered table came
flying in his direction and he threw his arms over his face to shield it
from wooden shards and other debris that caked the air, cataloguing
them as they soared over him in absurd counterpoint. Plates, glasses,
skin, limbs, eyeglasses, knives, forks, beer mugs, chair legs and arms,
calamari, boneless ribs, pizza slices, a toy gorilla that had been held
by a child a table two removed from where he’d been sitting with Janet,
and empty carafes of wine with their contents seeming to trail behind
them like vapor trails.
The surreal nature of that moment made Brixton think he might be
sleeping, all this no more than the product of an airy dream to be lost
to memory by the time woke. He remembered lying on the sidewalk, willing
himself to wake up, to rouse from this nightmare-fueled stupor. The
worst moment of his life followed the realization that he wasn’t asleep
and an imponderable wave of grief washed over him, stealing his next
breath and making him wonder if he even wanted to bother trying for
another.
Brixton had stumbled to his feet before what moments earlier had been
a bustling café filled with happy people. Now, bodies were everywhere,
some piled on top of others, blood covering everything and everyone. He
touched the side of his face and pulled bloody fingers away from the
wound. He looked back into the café in search of his daughter but saw
only a tangle of limbs and clothing where they’d been sitting.
“Oh, my God,” he whispered, his senses sharpening. “Janet!”
Washington’s Twenty-third Street had been crammed with pedestrians at
the time of the blast, joined now by people pouring out of office
buildings and other restaurants nearby, within eye or earshot of the
dual blasts. Brixton’s attempts to get closer to the carnage, holding
out hope Janet might still be alive, were thwarted at every turn by
throngs fleeing in panic in an endless wave.
“My daughter! My daughter!” he kept crying out, as if that might make the crowd yield and the chaos recede.
***
It wasn’t until Brixton reached the hospital that he learned Janet
hadn’t made it out, had been declared one of the missing. Having served
as an agent for a private security agency out-sourced to the State
Department at the time, he knew all too well that missing meant dead. He
had another daughter, Janet’s older sister, who’d given him a beautiful
grandson he loved dearly, but that was hardly enough to make up for the
loss of Janet. And the guilt over not having dragged her out with him
when she’d resisted leaving had haunted him to this very moment, when
instinct told him many on this crowded subway car might well be about to
join her.
Thanks to another woman wearing a hijab, but it wasn’t just that.
Brixton had crossed paths with an untold number of Arab women in the
five years since Janet’s death, and not one before today had ever
elicited in him the feeling he had now. She might’ve been a twin of the
bomber who’d taken his daughter from him, about whom Brixton could
recall only one thing:
Her eyes.
This woman had the very same shifting look, trying so hard to appear
casual that it seemed she was wearing a costume, sticking out to him as
much as a kid on Halloween. Brixton spun his gaze back in her direction,
prepared to measure off the distance between them and how he might
cover it before she could trigger her explosives.
But the young woman was gone.
Brixton looked down the center aisle cluttered with commuters
clutching poles or dangling hand-hold straps. He spotted the young woman
in the hijab an instant before she cocked her gaze briefly back in his
direction, a spark of clear recognition flashing when their eyes met
this time.
She knows I made her, Brixton thought, heavy with fear as he climbed to his feet.
He started after her, heart hammering in his chest, the sensation he
was feeling in that dreadful moment all too familiar. He couldn’t help
but catalogue the people he passed in the woman’s wake, many of whom
were either his late daughter’s age or younger. Smiling, gabbing away on
their phones, reading a book, or lost between their earbuds without any
knowledge of how horribly their lives might very well be about to
change. If he needed any further motivation to keep moving and stop the
potential suicide bomber though any means necessary, that was it. Doubt
vanished, Brixton trusting his instincts in a way he hadn’t that tragic
day five years ago when he was still a de facto agent for the US
government.
Janet . . .
In Brixton’s mind, this was no longer a Metro car, but the same
restaurant where a suicide bomber had taken a dozen lives and wounded
dozens more. And he found himself faced with the chance to do today what
he hadn’t done five years ago.
Stop!
Had Brixton barked that command out loud, or merely formed the
thought in his head. Other passengers were staring at him now, his surge
up the aisle disturbing the meager comfort of their morning routine.
Ahead of him, the woman wearing the hijab had picked up her pace,
Brixton spotting her dip a hand beneath a jacket that seemed much too
heavy for the unseasonably mild Washington, DC spring. His experience
with the State Department working for the shadowy SITQUAL group, along
with that as a cop, told him she was likely reaching for the pull cord
that would detonate the suicide vest concealed under bulky sweatshirt
and jacket.
If you could relive the day of your daughter’s death, what would you do?
I’d shoot the bitch before she had the chance to yank that cord,
Brixton thought, drawing his Sig Sauer P-226 nine-millimeter pistol. It
had survived his tenure with SITQUAL as his weapon of choice, well
balanced and deadly accurate.
He could feel the crowd around him recoiling, pulling back, when they
saw the pistol steadied in his hand. Several gasped. A woman cried out.
A kid dropped his cell phone into Brixton’s path and he accidentally
kicked it aside.
“Stop!”
Shouted out loud for sure this time, the dim echo bouncing off the
Metro car’s walls as it wound in thunderous fashion through the tube.
The young woman in the hijab was almost to the rear door separating this
car from the next. Brixton was close enough to hear the whoooooshhh as
she engaged the door, breaking the rule that prohibited passengers from
such car-hopping.
“Stop!”
She turned her gaze back toward him as he raised his pistol, ready to
take the shot he hadn’t taken five years ago. Passengers cried out and
shrank from his path. The door hissed closed, the young woman regarding
him vacantly through the safety glass as she stretched hand out blindly
to activate the door accessing the next car back.
And that’s when she stumbled. Brixton was well aware of the problems
encountered by this new 7000 series of Metro railcars after federal
safety officials raised repeated concerns about a potential safety risk
involving the barriers between cars that were designed to prevent blind
and visually impaired people from inadvertently walking off the platform
and falling through the gap. The issue initially was raised by
disability rights advocates, who argued the rubber barriers were spaced
too far apart, leaving enough room for a small person to slip through.
The young woman wearing the hijab was small. And she started to slip through.
Brixton watched her drop from sight an instant before an all-too
familiar flash created a star burst before him. He felt light, floating
as if there was nothing beneath his feet, because for a moment there
wasn’t. The piercing blast that buckled the Metro car door blew him
backward, the percussion lifting him up and then dropping him back down,
still in motion sliding across the floor amid a demolition derby of
commuters crashing into each other, as the train barreled along.
Separated now from its rear-most cars, what remained of the train
whipsawed through the tube with enough force to lift this car from the
rails and send it alternately slamming up against one side and then the
other.
Brixton maintained the presence of mind to realize his back and
shoulders had come to rest awkwardly against a seat, even as the squeal
of the brakes engaging grew into a deafening wail and his eyes locked on
the car door that to him looked as if someone had used a can opener to
carve a jagged fissure along the center of its buckled seam. The car
itself seemed to be swaying—left, right, and back again—but he couldn’t
be sure if that was real or the product of the concussion he may have
suffered from the blast wave or upon slamming up against the seat.
Unlike five years ago, Brixton had come to rest sitting up, staring
straight ahead at the back door of the Metro car currently held at an
awkwardly angled perch nearly sideways across the tracks. He realized
that through it all he’d somehow maintained grasp of his pistol, now
steadied at the twisted remnants of the Metro car door as if he expected
the young woman to reappear at any moment.
Janet . . .
A wave of euphoria washed over Brixton as, this time, he thought he’d
saved her, making the best of the do-over fate had somehow granted him.
The Metro car floor felt soft and cushiony, leaving him with the
dream-like sense he was drifting away toward the bright lights shining
down from the ceiling.
And then there was only darkness.
***
Excerpt from Murder on the Metro by Jon Land. Copyright 2021 by Jon Land. Reproduced with permission from Jon Land. All rights reserved.
JON LAND is the USA Today bestselling author of over fifty books,
including eleven in the critically acclaimed Texas Ranger Caitlin Strong
series, the most recent of which, Strong from the Heart, won the 2020
American Fiction Award for Best Thriller and the 2020 American Book Fest
Award for Best Mystery/Suspense Novel. Additionally, he has teamed up
with Heather Graham for a science fiction series that began with THE
RISING (winner of the 2017 International Book Award for best Sci-fi
Novel) and continues with BLOOD MOON. He has also written six books in
the Murder, She Wrote series of mysteries and has more recently taken
over Margaret Truman’s Capital Crimes series, beginning with Murder on
the Metro in February of 2021. A graduate of Brown University, he
received the 2019 Rhode Island Authors Legacy Award for his lifetime of
literary achievements. Land lives in Providence, Rhode Island.
I am a huge fan of Jon Land, so when I was given the chance to read his first book of Margaret Truman’s Capital Crime series, I was eager to begin. It is different from the Murder She Wrote series and Caitlin Strong series and I loved it and I do love a series where each book can stand alone.
I have been reading Jon Land’s books for decades, but have never read any of Margaret Truman’s Capital Crime series, until now. This was different from the Murder She Wrote and Caitlin Strong novels Jon writes and I loved it.
We start out with Lia and her granddaughter enjoying the beach…until the drones come and the bullets begin flying. It was a miracle they were still alive. Lia had retired from her job in the Elite Special Ops of the Israeli Army after suffering wounds that kept her at her desk. She feels she has no choice but to get back in the game.
Thousands of miles away, in Washington D C, Brixton is on the Washington Metro when his senses go on high alert. He spots a woman wearing a hijab. She brings to mind the woman responsible for his daughter’s death. The flash told him he was too late to stop her, but his actions saved many lives.
The VP has heart issues and I love the frightening stance Jon Land took with the issue. I love that his mind is able to conceive of such realistic scenarios.
Lia and Brixton carefully and quietly try to discover what is really going on and the danger mounts. If they weren’t so highly thought of and had a track record to prove it, some might have thought they were paranoid. What’s the saying…You’re not paranoid if they are out to get you. Others are drawn in and it becomes too big to keep secret.
Jon Land quickly captures my attention and it never lets up. I love reading about conspiracies. When Jon has the characters talking about the NSA having access to all the cameras, like the ones at gas stations, traffic lights, tolls, it made me think of the TV show, Person of Interest. Like all things, it can be used for good or evil.
What do a nun, an Israeli Mossad agent, and an international American Private Investigator have in common? This is power gone wild and it will take all of them to stop it.
WHOA! Murder on the Metro goes so far over the line, it frightens me. Is it possible? I believe most anything is possible in the electronic age we live it.
Talk about political machinations, Murder on the Metro seems all too real. From current events, we can see some leaders will go to any extreme to accomplish their goals. The steps they will go to to keep and have the ultimate power is an ultimate betrayal.
Jon Land wrapped up the story in spectacular fashion, leaving me hopeful for our future. I do think there are more good than bad people, though at times it’s hard to keep that in mind, and his writing is so realistic, I believe it could really happen.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Murder On The Metro by Jon Land.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
In Margaret Truman’s Murder on the Metro, Jon Land’s first thrilling addition to the New York Times bestselling Capital Crimes series, Robert Brixton uncovers a sinister plot threatening millions of American lives!
Israel: A drone-based terrorist attack kills dozens on a sun-splashed beach in Caesarea.
Washington: America awakens to the shattering news that Vice President Stephanie Davenport has died of an apparent heart attack.
That
same morning, a chance encounter on the Washington Metro results in
international private investigator Robert Brixton thwarting an attempted
terrorist bombing. Brixton has no reason to suspect that the three
incidents have anything in common, until he’s contacted by Kendra
Rendine, the Secret Service agent who headed up the vice president’s
security detail. Rendine is convinced the vice president was murdered
and needs Brixton’s investigative expertise to find out why.
In
Israel, meanwhile, legendary anti-terrorist fighter Lia Ganz launches
her own crusade against the perpetrators of that attack which nearly
claimed the lives of her and granddaughter. Ganz’s trail will ultimately
take her to Washington where she joins forces with Brixton to uncover
an impossible link between the deadly attack on Caesarea and the
attempted Metro bombing, as well as the death of the vice president.
The
connection lies in the highest corridors of power in Washington where a
deadly plot with unimaginable consequences has been hatched. With the
clock ticking toward doomsday, Brixton and Ganz race against time to
save millions of American lives who will otherwise become collateral
damage to a conspiracy destined to change the United States forever.
ABOUT JON LAND
Jon
Land is the award-winning, critically acclaimed author of 36 books,
including the bestselling Caitlin Strong Texas Ranger series that
includes Strong Enough to Die, Strong Justice, Strong at the Break,
Strong Vengeance and, most recently, Strong Rain Falling. The Tenth
Circle marks the second return engagement of his longtime series hero
Blaine McCracken on the heels of last year’s Pandora’s Temple which was
nominated for a Thriller Award and received the 2013 International Book
Award for Best Adventure Thriller. Jon’s first nonfiction book,
Betrayal, meanwhile, was named Best True Crime Book of 2012 by Suspense
Magazine and won a 2012 International Book Award for Best True Crime
Book. He is currently working on Strong Darkness, the next entry in the
Caitlin Strong to be published in September of 2014. He graduated Phi
Beta Kappa and Magna Cum Laude from Brown University, where he continues
to maintain a strong volunteer presence, in 1979.
Bestselling author Cara Putman returns with a romantic legal thriller that will challenge the assumptions of truth tellers everywhere.
Savannah Daniels has worked hard to build her law practice, to surround herself with good friends, and to be the loyal aunt her troubled niece can always count on. But since her ex-husband’s betrayal, she has trouble trusting anyone.
Jett Glover’s father committed suicide over a false newspaper report that ruined his reputation. Now a fierce champion of truth, Jett is writing the story of his journalism career—an international sex-trafficking exposé that will bring down a celebrity baseball player and the men closest to him, including Savannah’s ex-husband.
When Jett’s story breaks, tragedy ensues. Then a commercial airline crashes, and one of Savannah’s clients is implicated in the crash. Men connected to the scandal, including her ex, begin to die amid mysterious circumstances, and Savannah’s niece becomes an unwitting target.
Against their better instincts, Jett and Savannah join ranks to sort the facts from fiction. But can Savannah trust the reporter who threw her life into chaos? And can Jett face the possibility that he’s made the biggest mistake of his life?
Book Details:
Genre: Political/Romantic Suspense Published by: Thomas Nelson Publication Date: April 7th 2020 Number of Pages: 336 ISBN: 078523327X (ISBN13: 9780785233275) Series: This is a Stand Alone Novel Purchase Links:Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads
Read an excerpt:
The conversation flowed over the antipasti course and into the pasta della casa. Every bite of Savannah’s manicotti alla fiorentina was wonderful, the ricotta and spinach blending perfectly. Just when she knew she couldn’t take another bite and get anything done afterward, thanks to the food coma, a waiter came out with a slice of cheesecake. Her mouth watered as she took in the raspberries atop the homemade delight. She put a hand on her stomach and then smiled. “I hope you brought fresh forks for everyone.”
The handsome waiter flashed a bright smile. “Whatever the birthday donna wishes is my command.” He gave a slight bow and turned away. A moment later when he returned, a fist of forks at the ready, his demeanor had changed.
Emilie watched him a moment. “What’s wrong, Antonio?”
“There has been a horrible accident. It is on the TV in the office.”
“What kind of accident?” Savannah leaned toward him. “Does it involve someone you know?”
“No.” The man shook his head, and not one of his dark hairs moved. Yet his eyes were weighted with sadness and the shadow of something more. “It is a plane. It looks bad.”
“Oh no.” The memory of a plane careening by as she looked out a courtroom window in downtown Washington, DC, years earlier flashed through her mind. Savannah fought a shudder as she withdrew a credit card from her phone case and placed it on the bill, only for Hayden to slide it back to her and replace it with her own.
“Thank you.”
Please let this be a terrible accident and not the beginning of another 9/11.
Jaime’s head was bowed over her phone as she clicked the screen. “Looks like an isolated crash.”
All Savannah could think was that Jaime should add so far to her sentence. “That’s what we all thought on 9/11 too.”
Then a second plane careened into the Twin Towers. She saw the plane that hit the Pentagon, and a fourth plane crashed in Pennsylvania, killing one of her fellow law students. She cleared her throat and stood, motioning the gals to join her.
“Let’s get back to work and see what we can learn.”
As they left her favorite restaurant, her phone buzzed and she paused to pull it out of her pocket. She glanced at the text message on the screen and her blood froze.
911. From Addy. Their emergency code.
***
Excerpt from Flight Risk by Cara Putman. Copyright 2020 by Cara Putman. Reproduced with permission from Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Author Bio:
Cara Putman is the author of more than twenty-five legal thrillers, historical romances, and romantic suspense novels. She has won or been a finalist for honors including the ACFW Book of the Year and the Christian Retailing’s BEST Award. Cara graduated high school at sixteen, college at twenty, completed her law degree at twenty-seven, and recently received her MBA. She is a practicing attorney, teaches undergraduate and graduate law courses at a Big Ten business school, and is a homeschooling mom of four. She lives with her husband and children in Indiana.
Visit these other great hosts on this tour for more great reviews, interviews, guest posts, and giveaways!
Enter To Win!!!!:
This is a rafflecopter giveaway hosted by Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours for Cara Putman and Thomas Nelson. There will be 2 winners. Each winner will receive a set of three (3) print copies by Cara Putman. The giveaway begins on April 1, 2020 and runs through May 2, 2020. Open to U.S. addresses only. Void where prohibited.
Books from the Backlog is a fun way to feature some of those
neglected books sitting on your bookshelf unread. If you are anything
like me, you might be surprised by some of the unread books hiding in
your stacks.
America is falling,
ready to join the Roman Empire as a distant memory in the annals of
history. The year is 2027. Tired and desperate, the American people are
deep in the middle of The Second Great Depression. The Florida coastline
is in ruins from the most powerful hurricane on record; a second just
like it is bearing down on the state of Texas. For the first time in
history, the Middle East has united as one and amassed the most
formidable army the world has seen since the Third Reich. A hidden army
of terrorists is on American soil. This is the story of three men:
Howard Beck, the world’s richest man, also diagnosed with Asperger’s
Syndrome. Richard Dupree, ex-Navy SEAL turned escaped convict. Maxwell
Harris, a crippled, burned out Chief of Police of a small Texas town. At
first they must fight for their own survival against impossible odds.
Finally, the three men must band together to save their beloved country
from collapse.
It feels to me like I have read the book, but don’t find a review and marked read anywhere. It looks fantastic and worth another read, just to make sure. I downloaded it from Amazon on 8.23.12 and added it my TBR on 8.8.12. Looks like I won another good book.
Sir Geoffrey…no conscience, no morals, self preservation, not someone I would want in my circle of friends. But I do love a good bad guy. LOL
Is there an honest person in government? Is there anyone that doesn’t have their own devious agenda, willing to go to any lengths to get what they want? I do love conspiracies, so I was looking forward to diving into this one.
B P Smythe has created some despicable characters, but to counter the bad, we need to have the good. There is tons of action and characters that have their individual stories, and they come together the story becomes clear.
Though it didn’t rate high on my thriller list, The Expired by B P Smythe was an interesting and enjoyable read that fed my conspiracy reading need.
3 Star
GOODREADS BLURB
‘The Expired’ is a
psychological thriller masterpiece showing how vulnerable people can be
brainwashed to become sleepers (Manchurian Candidates) and used by
corrupt politicians to further their own ends. ‘The Expired’ shadows
true accounts of government sleeper programmes set up during the Korean
War and the East West Cold War.
Commander Gregory Potting is a
former head of MI6 Intelligence and the governments most trusted Senior
Adviser for Internal Affairs.
His position is put to the test in
1973 when a bizarre psychological plot unfolds that is inextricably
linked to a London terrorist attack, a cocaine drug scam, a homosexual
called Francis Hodder who suffers from schizophrenia and changes from
time to time to Roxanne – a transvestite prostitute who robs and murders
his clients.
Francis Hodder is a transsexual who preys on gay men. As a child he is abused by his father who is head of government security. Francis becomes an embarrassment to MI6 because of his gender leaning. He is brainwashed to become a Sleeper assassin triggered by code words to kill personnel who threaten government security. Francis becomes a manipulated pawn, who by mistake during a sexual encounter with a Black September terrorist, uncovers plans for a deadly attack on a densely crowded popular sports event to kill thousands of people to further the cause of EL Fatah and Black September.
ABOUT B P SMYTHE
I studied engineering at Carshalton College and eventually became a member of the Institute of Quality Assurance.
My engineering career took on many roles including toolmaking and being a technical writer for an artificial limb manufacturer. However, I’ve always enjoyed putting pen to paper while raising quality manuals and writing reports. I also write tennis articles for my local county magazine and relax reading crime and horror fiction. This, coupled with my technical writing career, partly influenced my transition into creative writing.
Wanting to expand my writing knowledge, I obtained a Level 3 / NCFE Certificate / PI410 creative writing diploma.
Sow
And You Shall Reap – http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/145677171X is my first
self- published novel. However, I have submitted numerous short stories
for internet competitions including, winning £100 as first prize for my A
Rose Without a Thorn for the www.spinetinglerspublishing online
magazine and winning £50 first prize for my We’ll Meet Again in the
http://dark-places.co.uk online magazine.
Two of my other short
stories, Love Me Do and My Secret Place, have also been published in the
printed Litro Magazine – Issue 140 – ISBN 978-0-9554245-5-7
http://www.litro.co.uk/2015/02/litro-140-diaries/
Near the end of
2015 I fortunately obtained a three book deal contract with Bloodhound
Books www.bloodhoundbooks.com to publish a trilogy of macabre/thriller
collected short stories. My first book titled – ‘From a Poison Pen’ is
the first book of the trilogy and highlights from the stories – What
happens when a member of the Hitler youth ends up in a concentration
camp? How does a beach side cocktail get in the way the way of one
woman’s scheming? What leads a teenage girl to reign down fire and
brimstone? When a doctor buries his mistake, can he get away with it?
This collection of dark, humorous and macabre tales explores the disturbing side of human nature.
When I read The Manchurian Candidate by Richard Condon, I was fascinated while exploring true accounts of government sleeper programmes set up during the Korean war and the east west cold war. This inspired me to write ‘The Expired’, a psychological thriller showing how prospective candidates can be brainwashed to become sleepers and used by corrupt politicians to further their own ends.
Red Sky: A Raisa Jordan Thriller by Chris Goff is a novel that deals with conspiracy and terrorism in Russia and China.
I won Red Sky Book II in the Raisa Jordan Thriller series, and Chris Goff’s debut novel, Dark Waters. You can see my review for Dark Waters, Book I, HERE.
The Russians and Chinese are willing to take down a plane to stop the delivery of an envelope and Raisa must handle this delicately to avoid a Cold War…but she carries a big stick and knows how to use it in this frightening, intriguing, action packed spy thriller filled with danger and betrayal at every turn.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
When People’s Republic Flight 91 crashes in northeastern Ukraine with a U.S. diplomatic agent onboard, U.S. Diplomatic Security Service Agent Raisa Jordan is sent to investigate. The agent was escorting a prisoner home from Guangzhou, China, along with sensitive documents, and it quickly becomes apparent that the plane was intentionally downed. Was it to silence the two Americans onboard?
To avoid a diplomatic incident, Jordan must discover what the Americans knew that was worth killing hundreds to cover up. With Russia deeply entangled in the Ukraine and the possibility that China could be hiding reasons to bring down its own plane, tensions are high.
As international relations and even more lives hang in the balance, Jordan races to stop a new Cold War. Red Sky, Chris Goff’s pulse-pounding follow-up to Dark Waters, is yet another white-knuckle joyride for fans of Gayle Lynds.
If you are looking for a fabulous and informative crime and thriller blog to follow, look no further. I have been a follower of Sue Coletta’s for some time now, so I was super excited to get my hands on Marred and Cleaved.
I just finished MARRED and it blew me away, so there was no way I was going to wait to read CLEAVED. I have to have more!
I love anything to do with water, and when I saw the Marine Patrol and Fish & Game would be involved, I became even more excited. I know what water can do to a dead body and I’m looking forward to finding out who put it there.
Sue starts her books out with a bang and I am gasping for breath right along with Sage. Then, Sue takes it to an even darker place and I excited to see how it will play out.
I feel as if the characters have become my friends and I worry for them as the serial killer adds body after body and the action continues non stop.
Sage has great instincts and after all she has been through, she listens to them.
Frankie has become my favorite character. She is humorous, brash, dresses as if she’s going out on the town instead of to a crime scene, hates authority and is quick with a sharp retort. Niko doesn’t think she would be good as the Sheriff because of these faults, so he is constantly grooming someone else to take his place when he quits.
Niko’s team has a Keystone Kop, Mayberry feel to them, but they are coming together, making constant progress.
The serial killer is back with a vengeance and I wonder if it is the same one…or is there more than one.
Sue Coletta takes us to a very dark place with a kidnapping that would make any of us cringe and rage at the villain and the world.
I love how creative Sue is in coming up with new ways for the serial killer to torture and kill his victims, really making them suffer and beg for death. She never thinks the evil is bad enough, so she piles on more and more and more…
Her ability to create so much tension and angst, at times left me white knuckled, gripping my Kindle so tight my hands hurt, making me want to reach through the screen and take matters into my own hands.
I voluntarily reviewed Marred by Sue Coletta.
5 STARS
Author Sage Quintano writes about crime. Her husband Niko investigates it.
Together they make an unstoppable team. But no one counted on a
twisted serial killer, who stalks their sleepy community, uproots
their happy home, and splits the threads that bonds their family
unit.
Darkness swallows the Quintanos whole—ensnared by a ruthless killer out for
blood. Why he focused on Sage remains a mystery, but he won’t stop
till she dies like the others.
Women impaled by deer antlers, bodies encased in oil drums, nursery rhymes,
and the Suicide King. What connects these cryptic clues? For Sage and
Niko, the truth may be more terrifying than they ever imagined.
Marred by Sue Coletta starts out with a baby’s funeral and a severely broken woman who is pissed off at herself and the world because of it. I can’t help but wonder WHY.
Sage is broken in more ways than one…blaming herself for her unborn baby’s death even though she had been tortured by a serial killer and was lucky to even be alive. She is MARRED for life and now I understand why.
NOW, he’s back, terrorizing her and she has nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.
I cannot imagine what she has been through, though Sue Coletta’s writing makes me become totally engrossed in her story, filled with details that draw a too vivid picture in my mind. I think it is time she takes matters into her own hands and let him know she will not cow down…this time. I love when the character has been through a traumatic, life changing experience, and the past comes back to haunt them, demanding they take action to defend themselves.
Sage is a bestselling author, writing crime novels, and this adds an extra element, making it even more interesting. Does her writing bring the killer even closer, thinking of her as a challenge? She keeps secrets, pushing people away, even keeping her husband at arm’s length. She writes about crime and her husband investigates the.
The murders are described in detail and they are brutal, savage. The more gruesome the better for me. LOL I guess I am a little twisted myself.
The body count rises.
I’m almost at 50% and I see what you are doing Sue. I know what you set me up for and I think it’s going to get ugly. I am pissed off at both of them for not communicating, but if they did we wouldn’t be in this dark place, with a sense of urgency and danger making me want to read faster and slower all at the same time, savoring the story.
There is a touch of the paranormal, rape, brutal and mind numbing torture. Why do women and society place blame on the vivctim, when it is the villain’s fault?
At times I am so angry with Niko that I want to reach into my Kindle and slap him upside the head, cuss him out, and tell him, “It’s not about YOU!”
Having a couple of critters adds another element that I love. They’d put their lives on the line for her.
Uh oh, I am glad that what I was thinking at 50% was wrong. Sue…you did a great job of yanking my chain and it takes a lot to lead me down the wrong path. Fabulous!
Deputy Sheriff Frankie, a female, is becoming a favorite character for me. To say she is rough around the edges is putting it mildly. She is aggressive and a bit raunchy, but I wouldn’t want any one else by my side in a time of crises.
WOW, Sue. You can sure spin a tale that has a lot of suspense that keeps my emotions raging as I struggle to take a calming breath before moving on to more of the same. You twisted and turned the story, keeping plenty of surprises coming my way.
Marred is the first book in the Grafton County series. One villain is taken care of, but you will want to read more of the series, because one remains.
I voluntarily reviewed Marred by Sue Coletta.
5 STARS
When a serial killer breaks into the home of bestselling author, Sage
Quintano, she barely escapes with her life. Her husband, Niko, a
homicide detective, insists they move to rural New Hampshire, where
he accepts a position as Grafton County Sheriff. Sage buries secrets
from that night—secrets she swears to take to her deathbed.
Three years of anguish and painful memories pass, and a grisly murder case
lands on Niko’s desk. A strange caller begins tormenting Sage—she
can’t outrun the past.
When Sage’s twin sister suddenly goes missing, Sage searches Niko’s
case files and discovers similarities to the Boston killer. A
sadistic psychopath is preying on innocent women, marring their
bodies in unspeakable ways. And now, he has her sister.
Cryptic clues. Hidden messages. Is the killer hinting at his identity? Or is
he trying to lure Sage into a deadly trap to end his reign of terror
with a matching set of corpses?
Member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and International
Thriller Writers, Sue Coletta is an award-winning, multi-published
author in numerous anthologies and her forensics articles have
appeared in InSinC Quarterly. In addition to her popular crime
resource blog, Sue co-hosts the radio show “Partners In Crime”
on Writestream Radio Network every third Tuesday of the month from 1
– 3 p.m. EDT/EST (see details at www.suecoletta.com).
She’s also the communications manager for the Serial Killer Project
and Forensic Science, and founder of #ACrimeChat on Twitter.
She runs a popular crime website and blog, where she shares crime tips,
police jargon, the mind of serial killers, and anything and
everything in between. If you search her achieves, you’ll find posts
from guests that work in law enforcement, forensics, coroner,
undercover operatives, firearm experts…crime, crime, and more
crime.
For readers, she has the Crime Lover’s Lounge, where subscribers will be
the first to know about free giveaways, contests, and have inside
access to deleted scenes. As an added bonus, members get to play in
the lounge. Your secret code will unlock the virtual door. Inside,
like-minded folks discuss their favorite crime novels, solve
mindbender and mystery puzzles, and/or relax and chat. Most
importantly, everyone has a lot of fun.
Sue lives in northern New Hampshire with her husband, where her house is
surrounded by wildlife…bear, moose, deer, even mountain lions have
been spotted. Course, Sue would love to snuggle with them, but her
husband frowns on the idea.
. The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda’s Voice.The only rules are to grab a book (any book), turn to page 56 or 56% in your ereader and find any sentence or a few ( no spoilers) that grabs you and post it.
Please join Rose City Reader every Friday to share the first sentence or so of the book you are reading along with you initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.
Please include the title of the book and the author’s name.
~~~
I don’t think there is anyone that hasn’t heard of James Patterson, but have you read The Big Bad Wolf? Another great thriller, suspense novel.
This is the cover I have for my 1st edition hardcover published in 2003, but the colors are more vibrant.
“I’m Alex Cross, with the FBI,” I said to Brigid, who seemed tremendously self-assured for her age, especially during this crisis. “I think that your father is expecting me.”
(Page 56 in hardcover, published in 1999)
Book Beginnings
The Phipps Plaza shopping mall in Atlanta was a showy montage of pink-granite floors, sweeping bronze-trimmed staircases, gilded Napoleonic design, lighting that sparkled like halgen spotlights. A man and a woman watched the target – “Mom”- as she left Niketown with sneakers and whatnot for her three daughters packed under one arm.
GOODREADS BLURB: Alex Cross, Patterson”s black lawman hero, has left the D.C. police force for the FBI. But Cross was a star cop, so when the Bureau becomes aware that attractive white women are disappearing at an unusually high rate in the nation”s capital, Cross, despite still being in training at Quantico, is brought onto the case and is personally mentored by the Bureau”s director, earning the ire of some Feds but the support of others. Behind the disappearances is a sexual slavery operation run as a sideline by one of the more believable and most compellingly evil villains in the Patterson universe, the Wolf, a mysterious former KGB man who”s now the world”s top mobster. The narrative throughout is swift and varied, as Patterson cuts among the diabolical schemes of a Russian magnate who may be the Wolf, the plight of several kidnap victims, the dogged pursuit by Cross and company of the Wolf, and the hideous designs of the members of an encrypted computer chat room who pay the Wolf fortunes to snatch women who fit their fantasies. And there”s domestic drama, too, as the mother of Cross”s young son, Alex, decides that she wants her boy back. Full of plot surprises and featuring a balanced mix of intrigue, hard action and angst, the novel, on which Patterson notably does not share cover credit, grips from start to finish. The Alex Cross series remains Patterson”s finest, and this is the finest Cross in years.
5 STARS
The Friday 56 is hosted by 
so of the book you are reading along with you initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.
