OMG! They’re back and more dangerous than ever. Dinosaur Lake III by Kathryn Meyer Griffith

Posted on September 7, 2015 by fundinmental

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Welcome to my Tag Team Tag Team Events & Giveaways Page!

This is where myself (Sherry at fundinmental) and Laura at fuonlyknew tag team authors and their books.

We share our reviews and giveaways, giving you two views and two chances to win!

**all covers linked to Amazon, I am an affiliate**

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The Dinosaur Lake series by Kathryn Meyer Griffith is fabulous. Book III, Infestation takes the danger to a whole new level.

If you don’t believe me, just take a look at the cover. How would you like to meet that face to face?

We do have all sizes, color and types. Which one would you like to take home?

Be sure and scroll to the bottom to enter my giveaway and find a way to have a second chance to win.

Add me to Goodreads now.

Dinosaur Lake III: Infestation by Kathryn Meyer Griffith

Cover art: Dawne Dominque

MY REVIEW

I just recently watched the Jurassaic Park movies, over and over again, in preparation for the recent release of Jurassic Park III. It made me think of Kathryn Meyer Griffiths series of Dinosaur Lake books and I realized I had not reviewed Book III: Infestation.

So, let’s party with the dinosaurs. Kathryn writes this series in a way that reminds me of Jurassic Park. Even while in terror, there is a sense of enjoyment, humor and fun.

Chief Park Ranger Henry Shore is back. He has been mulling over the past six years, first a monster dinosaur in Crater Lake, then dinosaurs flying over Crater Lake. What comes next? Will it be a water, air or land animal?

Let’s ask boat captain Willie Sander.

Poor Henry. Not again. How many times will he have to go through this? Maybe he needs to approach it in a different way? How will we learn to live WITH them?

Our old friends are back. Ranger Kiley Stanton and Ranger Elle Stanton seemed to have hooked up and are the better for it.

Ann is free of cancer, but she had made up her mind that she would do what made her happy, spending time with her family and Sasha, her new kitten. They were even thinking of retirement.

I’m so excited to find out what we will be playing with in this book, but I hope my favorite characters don’t get bumped off during the adventure. Kathryn is not afraid to kill off her characters.

I knew when he didn’t close the door all the way what would happen. No, No, Sasha. Come back. Will she or won’t she make it? I’m not telling. Even little kitties are on the dino’s snack list.

Justin, Henry’s son in law has been doing investigating of his own. Could this be happening in other locations? Oh man, it just keeps getting better and better.

They’re here. They’re big. They’re hungry…and they aren’t going anywhere. A dino apocalypse.

Nice twist, Kathryn adding Steven, a musician, dinosaur lover and ebook writer.

Denial of the problem could mean you would be served as lunch.

After watching Jurassic Park, it is easy to visualize the herds of dinorsaurs, their attacks, their eating snacks, which included pet squirrels and innocent people.

Kathryn’s writing makes me know that no on is safe. I may lose some friends. The big question is…who?

Dinosaur Lake is Jurassic Park without genetic manipulations, on steroids. Kathryn takes it so much further. The dinosaurs are mutating, they have sharp teeth and claws, are quick on their feet, attack in groups and herds, are vicious and smart, plotting attacks and setting traps the the unsuspecting humans. They are communicating with each other. They hit and pounce, like a cat playing with a mouse.

I have had a feeling from the opening ages that something really bad will happen and I am not going to like it. That is what makes Kathryn’s Dinosaur Lake novels so good. She pulls no punches, yanks the run out from under your feet as soon as you feel you are on solid ground and demands that you pay attention at every turn. Ignore the warnings at your own peril. I am left with a lot of questions and wonder…do I have to draw my own conclusions, or will there be more to come? How about it Kathryn?

I received Dinosaur Lake III: Infestation from Kathryn Meyer Griffith in return for an honest and unbiased review.

5 Stars

SYNOPSIS

Chief Park Ranger Henry Shore has dealt with and fought real live dinosaurs at his beloved Crater Lake National Park for over six years. With the help of his rangers, a few brave FBI friends and army soldiers he’d been victorious over a prehistoric lake creature and years later some particularly fiendish, and clever, specimens of the flying variety. He and his newspaper publisher wife, Ann, thought their park was finally rid of the monsters and they could reclaim their tranquil life in a place they cherished. Not so. For suddenly across the park new and even more malevolent mutant species of dinosaur begin to appear and create havoc, attacking the park’s visitors and threatening its peace. And this time the primeval scourge isn’t confined to just their park. The creatures have moved into the nearby towns, across the western United States and up into Canada. They are so much more aggressive, smarter and hungrier than any that have come before and the infestation is spreading further and faster than Henry and Ann can even imagine. This time there’s no easy way to defeat the dinosaurs. There’s too many of them and they’re too devious. This time it’s full out war and the victor will someday claim Earth.

ABOUT KATHRYN MEYER GRIFFITH

I’ve been writing for over 41 years now…published for 30 of those years since 1984; have EIGHTEEN novels, 2 novellas and 12 short stories to my name…and more coming. Aug. 30, 2012: I (first time ever!) SELF-PUBLISHED MY 16TH NOVEL *DINOSAUR LAKE* TO AMAZON KINDLE DIRECT! January 2013 I SELF-PUBLISHED MY 17TH NOVEL *HUMAN NO LONGER*, my fourth vampire novel. Also in January 2013 I self-published my rereleased murder mystery (originally a 2003 Avalon Books hardcover) SCRAPS OF PAPER-Revised Author’s Edition and FOUR SPOOKY SHORT STORIES, a collection of 4 horror/romantic horror short stories.

I write traditional supernatural horror, SF horror, romantic time-travel, murder mysteries and paranormal romance. I’ve been writing about ghosts, ancient Egyptian spirits, haunted places and evil vampires WAY LONG BEFORE Stephanie Meyer (no relation to me even though my maiden name is Meyer) and the rest of the vampire author crowd, ha, ha. And now ALL 15 of my older Zebra, Leisure paperbacks, Avalon Books murder mysteries and my Wild Rose Press books have been revised, reprinted and rereleased for the first time in many years (and in e-books for the first time ever) from DAMNATION BOOKS www.damnationbooks.com and ETERNAL PRESS www.eternalpress.biz and AMAZON KINDLE DIRECT. Yippie! So look for them.

I’m a wife of almost 35 years (husband, Russell), mother (one son, James) and grandmother (two grandchildren, Caitlyn and Joshua). I was a graphic designer in the corporate world for 23 years; and have published with Dorchester, Kensington, Avalon Books, The Wild Rose Press, Amazon Kindle Direct, Damnation Books and Eternal Press, and Amazon Publishing. Six years ago I crossed over into e-books as well as paperbacks and now ALL my old/new books are in ebooks…and soon to be in AUDIO BOOKS from ACX. I love cats and nature, classic rock and country music (my brother, JS Meyer www.jsmeyermusic.com, is a singer/songwriter and does the songs for all my self-made book trailers that are on my websites). VISIT me at www.myspace.com/kathrynmeyergriffith or www.bebo.com/kathrynmeyerG or www.authorsden.com/kathrynmeyergriffith to see all my book covers and trailers.

My published books: (ALL OF THESE OUT AGAIN…PLEASE LOOK FOR THEM!) Human No Longer (2013),Dinosaur Lake (SF horror), Scraps of paper-Revised Author’s Edition, Evil Stalks the Night (supernatural horror), Leisure 1984; The Heart of the Rose (historical romance) Leisure 1985; Blood Forge (supernatural horror), Leisure 1989; Vampire Blood (romantic supernatural horror), Zebra 1991; The Last Vampire (supernatural horror), Zebra 1992; Witches (romantic horror), Zebra 1993 & Pinnacle 2000; a novella called The Nameless One in Dark Seductions, an erotic horror anthology, Kensington, 1993; The Calling (supernatural horror), Zebra 1994. The Nameless One, a short erotic novella in the 1994 Zebra Anthology Dark Seductions. And Scraps of Paper (hardcover mystery) Avalon Books, 2003; All Things Slip Away, the second mystery in the series came out also from Avalon Books in February 2006 and now both are out again from Amazon and both in ebooks for the first time ever. And my three novels and two short stories from The Wild Rose Press are out again from ETERNAL PRESS: Egyptian Heart(ancient Egyptian time travel romance); Winter’s Journey(a romantic suspense novel); The Ice Bridge, (a contemporary romance e-novel with a dose of murder mystery) and two ghostly short stories, Don’t Look Back, Agnes and In This House. BEFORE THE END: A Time of Demons, an apocalyptic saga from Damnation Books, June 2010. THE WOMAN IN CRIMSON, a vampire eternal love story, is out now from ETERNAL PRESS http://www.eternalpress.biz. The Complete Guide to Writing Paranormal Fiction: Volume 1 (I did the Introduction) 2011 and Telling Tales of Horror 2012(I did the chapter on Putting the Occult into your Fiction)***

Goodreads / Authors Den / Website

Dinosaur Lake I is an 2014 Epics Award Finalist in the Suspense/Thriller category. Check out

My review: Creature Dines on Crater Lake Smorgasboard

My review: They’re Here – Dinosaur Lake II by Kathryn Meyer Griffith

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GIVEAWAY

Kathryn Meyer Griffith is offering for the giveaway three (3) ebooks of Dinosaur Lake III. International. Entry is easy peasy. Just leave a comment along with your email address.

Answer Kathryn Meyer Griffith’s question…What do you do when they are smarter than you?

For a second chance to win and another review, visit fuonlyknew.

Giveaway ends 9/21/15.

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To see all my Reviews, go HERE.

To see all my Giveaways, go HERE.

If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?

Look on the right sidebar and let’s talk.

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Beware, things are not what they seem – Zed by Jason McIntyre Review

Posted on September 2, 2015 by fundinmental

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Zed by Jason McIntyre!

I love this cover and joined the tour because of it. I am very happy I did.

This was a great story that had me asking, is this paranormal, science fiction, horror? WTF is going on?

Zed…The title alone had me curious and I love what Jason McIntyre did with this unique story.

I have some great things to share with you, so grab your coffee, get comfy and let’s begin.

Cover: Greg Simanson

MY REVIEW

The unusual title, Zed, and the gorgeous cover hooked me. Zed is a wild ride on a wave of evil and horror that will have you questioning the evil that lurks around us.

In the opening pages, Jason McIntyre included a map of Dove Cove and I love that.

Right from the beginning, with the little old lady, Karen, Jason got me. I love it. He grabbed me by the hand and never let me put the book down until the last page was read.

Tom worked for her in the group home for the mentally disabled.

Zed, Zeke, what can I say about him. He was different than the others and I thought him very creepy.

Jason McIntyre amazed me with his characters, good and bad. They each have their distinct personalities. Sometimes, the least likely people are the ones that step up and do the right thing, regardless of the outcome. I loved them all.

It’s so hard to describe this book without giving away the good parts. A bit of horror, suspense, thriller and mystery, Zed kept me reading until the last page was read. A creepy mystery in Dovetail Cove.

This is a MUST READ for those of you who love mystery, the best and worst of humanity and an ending I never saw coming but left me feeling just fine.

I received a copy of Zed by Jason McIntyre in return for an honest and unbiased review.

5 Stars

SYNOPSIS

It’s the waning dog days of August, 1975 and Tom Mason’s in Dovetail Cove for the last few weeks of his summer job at the group home. His boss and the home’s owner is Karen Banatyne, one of the wealthiest folks in town. It seems like she’s got it in for Tom; she’s the only one standing in his way as he scrimps for a new camera.

But Karen has her own problems. A regulatory agency might cut off her funding, plus her hubby hasn’t been seen in a few weeks, and she’s not saying why. Most ominous of all, it seems as though something’s hiding in the hot spring north of the main beach and one of Karen’s ‘houseguests’ is about to come face to face with evil. Tom is too.

Buy on Amazon

Author Interview

What has inspired you to become a writer?

Inspiration to tell stories came early. I was the kid in the fourth and fifth grade sneakily reading Stephen King novels at 800 pages apiece behind my propped-up math text book. At eight, I was the editor of a short-lived school paper and we didn’t have enough content to fill the back page. I went home and hauled out my Mom’s old IBM typewriter to begin an epic serial about two young girls who are abducted by aliens in their backyard. I knew I had something when the other kids begged to know what would happen in part two. Alas, the teacher who managed the newspaper project got a transfer and part two of the saga never made it out. I guess, in a way, I’ve been writing towards the end of that tale ever since.

How do you come up with your characters and how do you make them so interesting?

I start in a very visual way. Without even closing my eyes, I can clearly see what’s happening and, as I noodle around on the ‘what’ of a story, I eventually start to form a visceral view of the ‘who’ in the tale. The people inside that vision have to become real to me, even before I start the first sentence. If they don’t then I don’t care about them. I have to care, or else I never haul them out of trouble. And, really, isn’t that what makes fiction great? Dumping someone you care about into a heap of worry and then methodically traipsing them out of said trouble in a believable and satisfying way.

My biggest conundrum is when a dazzling or lovely person gets in a trap and they aren’t pulled out in time. It’s the biggest challenge for me — I can’t save everyone and, sometimes, a character I adore needs to die so that things keep chugging for the whole story. Forgive me, readers. I will kill again.

What makes your stories and books different than other books you have read? Everyone has their own style, what is yours?

I mix and match genres, influences and types of stories. One major thrust of my writing life is to never repeat the same kind of book twice. I want to push myself to unearth new and different pieces of myself as I tell stories. So while a book like ZED has companion books that have a flow between them, there are nearly a dozen different genres represented among them. One might be a coming-of-age paranormal while the next might be a murder mystery and then I may discover that the next works best as a straight-ahead horror. There’s noir and crime books and even a western. Now, do they all look exactly like their home genres suggest? Not at a glance. They use the tropes from each genre but usually in a new mix. They meld into something that, I guess, looks and reads like a Jason McIntyre novel. Hopefully, readers enjoy the journey through all the different places I like to play. Oh, and I hope they get scared and a little upset along the way.

Do you plan on writing any other genres?

Future genres include something that no one who’s read my work will believe. I want to write a romance novel and a deeply historical fiction that is true to an extremely ancient time period. As always, I want to have fun with what I write, and produce something unique that interests readers, but pushes me into new territory.

Anything else you would like to discuss about you as a writer?

ZED is part of a mosaic novel. The only other writer I know who’s written this kind of a work is George RR Martin. His mosaic comprised of books written by a dozen different writers all working within one world and telling stories about the same characters.

DOVETAIL COVE works in a similar way. The characters flow in an out of the background of several books and the island setting is the same place, spanning a decade in the history of one place that has a succulent past and a lurid present. The difference between Martin’s mosaic and this one is that I’m writing all the pieces myself. Each DOVETAIL book stands on its own, with a distinct beginning, middle and end. But if you read more of them, the pieces of a much larger puzzle begin to fall into place. At present, ZED marks the fourth of ten books to be released. Others available now are BLED, SHED and DREAD. Look for new ones in 2015 and 2016.

Getting to Know the Author as a Person

What do you like to do when you are not writing?

I travel as much as I can and spend time with my crazy kiddos. Readers and friends from social media will likely remember all the posts about the nutty things my kids say. I won’t even mention my wife here. She has her own cult following among my Facebook and Twitter feeds.

I have built a lovely studio in my home and use it to write music, paint when I’m able and, yes, nap profusely when the spirit is not moving me otherwise.

What relaxes you when you need to unwind?

Creation of every sort is about the most relaxing thing I can imagine doing. I adore many forms of music and art and, when I’m in the middle of drafting a new book, it’s the greatest escape from life’s stresses. I peel back the page and transport to an entirely new place as I write. The process of uncovering a story is food for my soul.

What are your favorite foods?

I have always loved to travel and try new experiences and dishes wherever I go. Lately, I’ve been on a jag for Eggs Benedict and have been trying that in as many countries and cities as I can. Now, of course, lots of places don’t have that so I’ve broadened it to ordering eggs prepared in whatever style is most prevalent in the place I’m visiting. It’s really interesting to discover the different cooking methods — not to mention the different kinds of birds’ and lizards’ eggs that have been brought to my table!

Have you ever had any paranormal experiences?

I’ve had what I call ‘inconclusive’ paranormal experiences. Things have happened that, even after intense scrutiny, a rational person might not be able to form a judgment as to whether it was explicable by science or by para-science. Rest assured, all strangeness in my world (paranormal or just odd and intriguing) eventually finds its way into a story or two. Writing, I’ve discovered, has really become my own form of torture, er, I mean self-therapy. I write to understand the events of the world, of people and of my own life.

Tell us anything you would like your readers to know about Jason McIntyre.

I once shared a bottle of expensive red wine with a homeless man. The throat infection I developed the following week nearly put me in the hospital and my health insurance had lapsed so I couldn’t get a scrip for antibiotics. I went through six tubes of topical Polysporin. Yep, I gargled the stuff five times a day until I could see straight again.

About Jason McIntyre

JASON MCINTYRE is the #1 Kindle Suspense author of THE NIGHT WALK MEN, bestsellers BLED and SHED, plus the multi-layered literary suspense, THALO BLUE. His first novel, ON THE GATHERING STORM, earned a spot in the Top 20 Debut Authors for the Goodreads Choice Awards.McIntyre’s debut novel, ON THE GATHERING STORM was VOTED as one of the TOP 20 DEBUT AUTHORS — Goodreads Choice Awards

Learn more and connect with the author at www.theFarthestReaches.com

Amazon Author Page

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I am outraged – Read Cargo by DV Berkom and you will know why

Posted on August 27, 2015 by fundinmental

Hello Readers, I have some fabulous news!

I don’t know about you, but I love a strong, kickass and take names, female protagonist that will take me on an adventure I will not soon forget and DV Berkom has done that in spades with her latest thriller, Cargo.

I love the strong cover and double exposure that makes me want to look through and behind the pages. There is so much going on in this novel, that by the time I got to the end, I heaved a sigh of relief, but the thoughts kept coming.

Add me to Goodreads now.

MY REVIEW

DV Berkom writes some fantastic thriller fiction and her latest, Cargo, does not disappoint. In fact, I think she took it up a notch. I anticipated a great read and wondered who Leine will be killing today. The twists and turns the characters and I went through kept the suspense building as the level of danger grew.

DV Berkom writes of strong, kickass, female protagonists and Leine Basso is a prime example. She is a complex character that is hard on the outside, with a soft filling. She is an expert shot and skilled in hand to hand combat. She wants to save everyone. Is it to atone for the guilt she carries from her past life as an assassin? How many lives has she ruined? Does she deserve the happiness she has found with Detective Santiago Jensen? She will do whatever is necessary to achieve her goal and right now, it is to rescue Kylie.

Kylie had been abducted while backpacking overseas and she was in for a horrific experience. She wondered what would become of her. Would they rape her? Would they take her organs and dump her somewhere far from home, never to be found? Would they sell her to the highest bidder? Or worse?

Things don’t go the way Leine plans and she ends up in need of rescue herself. She teams up with Derek, who is locked on the ship with her, bound for Africa. He is a poacher and Africa is his home. We will see him grow and develop as DV Berkom takes us on this wild African adventure of…

Poaching, terrorists, animals parading as men. Leine will learn more than she ever wanted to know about poaching and the men behind it. Their brutality and lack of respect for life, whether human or animal is beyond my comprehension. Women are treated as less than human, sold, traded, bartered and murdered at will.

The debasement and abuse heaped on Kylie by another woman totally shocked me. I wasn’t prepared for that. How depraved must she be to have no empathy, taking delight at treating her like a dog, or worse. I cannot imagine the terror Kylie felt thinking she may die.

I know this is fiction, but it reeks of realism. I was so angry about it all. I can see the women huddled in dank, dirty surroundings, scared out of their minds. I can see the herd of elephants after being brutally murdered and mutilated for their ivory. I recently read about their tusks being dyed pink so they no longer have any value. I agree with Leine’s feelings of disgust with the men who think they can do whatever they want without consequence. I want to see them get theirs.

Wang is a poacher and hopes to become the king of canned hunts, but that is only one of his criminal enterprises. I am hoping, crossing my fingers and talking to the book, please, please, please, make sure he gets what he deserves. I want him to come across someone who can mete out an appropriate punishment. A quick death wouldn’t be good enough for me. He needs to suffer horribly.

April is a bonus and I hope her role will grow as DV Berkom expands on the series. I am very curious about her. Leine is her mother and they were estranged for many years, but they had something in common. They had both been abducted. I know April has a story to tell and I want to hear it. What say you, DV?

I read a blog post of DV Berkom’s in which she talks of the research she does and I can see it paying off in a big way. The depth and details of the events and how the characters dealt with them were horrific, yet uplifting.

Cargo unfolds at a steady pace as DV Berkom takes us into a dangerous world of abduction, animal and human trafficking, poaching, canned hunts and terrorists. As we travel from the United States, to Bangkok, to sub-Saharan Africa the danger mounts, tension increases and the suspense has me reading faster, telling myself no peeking. When I turned the last page, I sat, just thinking. How cool is that, when a book won’t let you go, even after you have finished reading it? That is why DV Berkom is an author to have on your must read list.

I received Cargo by DV Berkom in return for an honest and unbiased review.

5 Stars

SYNOPSIS

The latest action-packed Leine Basso Crime Thriller–NOW AVAILABLE!

Money–the universal merchant. Anyone can be bought, anyone can be sold.

Anyone.

Haunted by memories of an op gone bad, former assassin Leine Basso travels to Bangkok in search of a missing backpacker. With help from an old contact, she discovers the man responsible for the girl’s disappearance is connected to a violent Hong Kong triad and is the linchpin of an extensive trafficking network–both animal and human.

Making enemies isn’t new for Leine, but making one in the triad is–she soon finds herself a prisoner on board a cargo ship headed for sub-Saharan Africa. To ensure her survival and to continue her hunt for the missing girl, she must join forces with Derek, an ivory poacher who promises to help her.

For a price.

As her involvement intensifies, Leine delves deeper into a disturbing and treacherous criminal underworld where everything has a price.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

DV Berkom is a slave to the voices in her head. As the author of two popular thriller series (Leine Basso and Kate Jones), her love of creating resilient, kick-*ss female characters stems from a lifelong addiction to reading spy novels, mysteries, and thrillers, and longing to find the female equivalent within those pages.

Raised in the Midwest, she received her BA in political science from the University of Minnesota and promptly moved to Mexico to live on a sailboat. Many, many cross-country moves (and several years) later, she now lives just outside of Seattle, Washington with the love of her life, Mark, an ex-chef-turned contractor, and writes every chance she gets.

For more information, please visit her website at www.dvberkom.com.

Facebook / Twitter / Blog / Pinterest / Amazon US / Amazon UK/ Newsletter

Author Pages

Amazon / Smashwords / Barnes & Noble / itunes / Kobo

I am reading my way through DV Berkom’s The Leine Basso Thrillers:

5 Star Review – Serial Date by DV Berkom

5 Star Review – Bad Traffick

The Body Market – Coming soon.

I am also reading my way through DV Berkom’s Kate Jones Thrillers:

5 Star Review – Yucatan Dead by DV Berkom

5 Star Review – A One Way Ticket To Dead by DV Berkom

The Kate Jones Thriller Series, Vol. 1 box set (includes the 1st four novellas in the series).

(The Kate Jones Thriller Series, Vol. 2 includes Cruising for Death (#5), YD, and AOWTTD, all for $8.99 (bought separately they would be 12.99)

***all covers link to amazon, I am an affiliate***

Check out all these beautiful covers for the Kate Jones thrillers by DV Berkom.

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To see all my Reviews, go HERE.

To see all my Giveaways, go HERE.

If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?

Look on the right sidebar and let’s talk.

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Another hilarious adventure with Austin Carr in Big Mojo by Jack Getze

Posted on August 17, 2015 by fundinmental

Jack Getze’s novel, Big Mojo, sent me off on another wacky adventure with Austin Carr. Austin seems to be a bit too trusting and he will pay for his naivety. Jack Getz will keep you on your toes with this Rockfordesque story and his slightly (lol) dysfunctional cast of characters.

I have read some of Jack Getze’s work (see below) and enjoyed it so much, I eagerly look forward to the next adventure.

The covers are gorgeous, the colors leaping off the page. What do you think of them?

Add me to Goodreads now.

Big Mojo by Jack Getze

Down & Out Books

Cover: J J Lindroos

MY REVIEW

I love the Austin Carr book series and Big Mojo is Jack Getze’s latest. The covers are gorgeous and each novel can stand alone. His novels make me think of Janet Evanovich and I love the fun and witty writing with quirky characters and snarky dialogue.

I am asking you, ” Are you ready for a good time?”

Austin Carr has an ability to find trouble, so buckle your seatbelt because it will be a bumpy ride.

Austin’s business is in New Jersey securities and with his penchant for redheads who walk on the wild side, I don’t see much good coming from his meeting with Patricia Willis. He has a tendency to think with his “small brain”. He’s a good guy that bad things happen to, no matter how hard he tries to do the right thing.

Austin is no stranger to Mama Bones Bonacelli and he knows better than to cross her. She is not like any Mama I’ve every known.

Vic, Mama’s son is an idiot. He wants revenge on Austin, but she won’t do it. She knows he doesn’t deserve it. Mama finally relents and agrees to a magic spell instead of a hit.

The mention of a second kitchen in the home makes me think of my best friend’s family, not to mention a house I owned in New York. It is quite common for Italian families to have a second kitchen in their basement.

I laughed my way through the beatings, double crosses, triple crosses, magic potions, insider trading, and shootings.

Austin parks his home in his buddie’s, Luis’ parking lot of his Mexican restaurant. It brings back memories of Jim Rockford on the Rockford Files TV show and his less than savory friends and acquaintances. He has an ability to defy the odds, whether it is a beating or a shooting.

So many suspects and so much action, along with all the convoluted happenings and characters, will have you wondering what will happen next and who will be doing what to who. So, pour yourself a cocktail, put up your feet and enjoy Jack Getzke’s latest hilarious adventure with Austin Carr.

I received Big Mojo by Jack Getze in return for an honest and unbiased review.

5 Stars

ABOUT JACK GETZE

Former Los Angeles Times reporter Jack Getze is Fiction Editor for Anthony nominated Spinetingler Magazine, one of the internet’s oldest websites for noir, crime, and horror short stories. Through the Los Angeles Times/Washington Post News Syndicate, his news and feature stories were published in over five-hundred newspapers and periodicals worldwide. His two screwball mysteries, BIG NUMBERS and BIG MONEY, are being reissued by DOWN & OUT BOOKS, with the new BIG MOJO to follow. His short stories have appeared in A Twist of Noir and Beat to a Pulp. Getze is an Active Member of Mystery Writers of America’s New York Chapter.

Author Links: Blog / Website / Goodreads

My review for Big Numbers by Jack Getz

My review for Big Money by Jack Getz

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Another Hit by Patricia Cornwell – Flesh and Blood

Posted on August 13, 2015 by fundinmental

Flesh and Blood

Patricia Cornwell

on Tour August 2015

Book Details

Genre: Women Sleuths | Crime | Suspense

Published by: William Morrow

Publication Date: 06/30/2015

Number of Pages: 512

ISBN: 9780062325358

Purchase Links:

MY REVIEW

I love Patricia Cornwell’s novels and there is never any need to investigate further when seeing a new release. She is on my automatic grab it list.

In the world of forensics, Scarpetta is at the top of the list. Now, we have a serial sniper leaving dead bodies up and down the east coast and she is hot on the case.

Scarpetta is a well developed and strong character. She has a Greyhound named Sock – what a cool name is that? She is the chief medical examiner of Massachusetys and also works for the Pentagon. Believes in doing the right thing sometimes involves bending the rules a bit. Kay is Dr Death, a stickler for details and take of care of business now attitude, which can rub others the wrong way.

Benton, her significant other, comes from money, but he is not a snob. He is an FBI profiler and very good at his job.

Lucy…how can I describe this dangerous dynamo. . I love this character, flaws and all. She is bold, confident and can kick your ass from here to tomorrow. She knows weapons, drives a Ferrari, owns and operates her own chopper and is a genius when it comes to computers. If you mess with her and hers, it could be deadly.

Marino, another friend of our Scarpetta’s cast of characters, had been working at CFC with her, but was lured back to the Police Department. He still assumes they are a team and Scarpetta will drop everything to help him whenever heeded. He is a bit cantankerous. I love him and his bull in a china shop attitude. Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead. Nothing, noone stands in the way of his investigations. Kay at times feels she works for him not with him, whether making a call or cleaning his sunglasses.. I find that funny.

Does their work and stress of job create an aura of competition, turning friends into antagonists, or worse yet, enemies, working against each other, causing problems on cases they are forced to share?

Bloom is an insurance investigator. Why does he keep turning up like a bad penny? He works for an insurance company that does all they can to deny claims.

What do a man accused, but innocent, of being a terrorist, a young girl supposedly in a drowning accident, seven bright and shiny copper pennies, a ruthless insurance investigator, a 61 year old murdered woman, a dead crane operator have in common?

As usual Patricia Cornwell took me on a roller coaster ride of mystery, danger and intrigue at every turn with Flesh and Blood. She kept me on my toes with twists and turns and I am unable to put all the pieces together. I know they will fit, I just don’t know how. It doesn’t matter if I figure it out or not, I am still on pins and needles as I read to the very end.

Kay Scarpetta is not the only adventurous, do it myself kind of investigator, so is Patricia Cornwell. Be sure and read her bio, which is almost as entertaining as the book itself.

I received a copy of Flesh and Blood in return for an honest and unbiased review.

5 Stars

SYNOPSIS

It’s Dr. Kay Scarpetta’s birthday, and she’s about to head to Miami for a vacation with Benton Wesley, her FBI profiler husband, when she notices seven pennies on a wall behind their Cambridge house. Is this a kids’ game? If so, why are all of the coins dated 1981 and so shiny they could be newly minted? Her cellphone rings, and Detective Pete Marino tells her there’s been a homicide five minutes away. A high school music teacher has been shot with uncanny precision as he unloaded groceries from his car. No one has heard or seen a thing.

In this 22nd Scarpetta novel, the master forensic sleuth finds herself in the unsettling pursuit of a serial sniper who leaves no incriminating evidence except fragments of copper. The shots seem impossible, yet they are so perfect they cause instant death. The victims appear to have had nothing in common, and there is no pattern to indicate where the killer will strike next. First New Jersey, then Massachusetts, and then the murky depths off the coast of South Florida, where Scarpetta investigates a shipwreck, looking for answers that only she can discover and analyze. And it is there that she comes face to face with shocking evidence that implicates her techno genius niece, Lucy, Scarpetta’s own flesh and blood.

ABOUT PATRICIA CORNWELL

Patricia Cornwell is recognized as one of the world’s top bestselling crime authors with novels translated into thirty-six languages in more than 120 countries. Her novels have won numerous prestigious awards including the Edgar, the Creasey, the Anthony, the Macavity, and the Prix du Roman d’Aventure. Beyond the Scarpetta series, she has written a definitive book about Jack the Ripper, a biography, and two more fiction series. Cornwell, a licensed helicopter pilot and scuba diver, actively researches the cutting-edge forensic technologies that inform her work. She was born in Miami, grew up in Montreat, North Carolina, and now lives and works in Boston.

Catch Up with Patricia Cornwell:

Tour Participants:

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Chilling Must Read Thriller – Perfectly Twisted by Kristine Mason

Posted on August 11, 2015 by fundinmental

Perfectly Twisted (Book 1 C.O.R.E. Above the Law) (C.O.R.E. Series) by Kristine Mason

I am a super huge fan of thrillers and Kristine Mason is at the top of her game in Perfectly Twisted, her latest chapter of the stand alone CORE series. I have read all of her books and find myself on pins and needles waiting for the next one, but first…

Check out this Perfectly Twisted cover!

Add me to Goodreads now.

MY REVIEW

Are you curious about the snake on the cover? You should be! I LOVE it.

With each novel Kristine Mason writes, her creativity and imagination shines brighter. Perfectly Twisted is a perfect title for this romantic suspense thriller. I don’t know how Kristine produces such brilliantly written novels that should be at the top of any thriller list, but I am glad to have found her and be able to share her with you. The story is not for the faint of heart and I would highly recommend it to adult readers.

The Reverend uses his position for his own wickedly evil purposes, him and his son laugh at the gullibility of the congregation they serve. The things they do are so horrendous they defy description by me, a lowly reader. I wonder how Kristine comes up with her storylines and makes them so believable.

The Above The Law CORE group operates on the edge, keeping a low profile and dealing with situations that may cross the line. Lola, Ryan, Harrison, Vlad, Mel and Barney walk a fine line but believe in doing the right thing. It’s just sometimes the right thing requires more than the law allows. Each member is chosen for their particular expertise and function as a fine tuned instrument. They are as close as any family could be.

I love Kristine’s ability to make her characters come alive on the pages. I fall in love with her powerful, yet loving male characters. Her male protagonists are to die for and they would gladly do it for their brave and courageous women partners. Her female characters I want for my best friends.

Perfectly Twisted’s romantic couple being spotlighted are Shane and Beth. I feel for Shane who paid for a crime that never would have happened if he wasn’t in the wrong place at the wrong time. Deputy Beth Price risks her job to be with him. Little does she realize his dalliance with the law is just the tip of the iceberg.

Kristine Mason’s characters are complex. You will find that you either love them or hate them, root for them or root against them, and sometimes pray at the end some of them no longer walk the earth.

After reading Perfectly Twisted, I can’t help but wonder how many perverted and depraved sickos run around at any give time? The question in Perfectly Twisted is how many sickos are operating in the same place at the same time. Is there more than one? Is there a copycat?

The game of cat and mouse is afoot. Who will be left standing?

The sweet and sexy banter has a humorous flavor even during the horror. I never used to be much of a romance fan, but Kristine Mason is one of the amazing authors I have found that I cannot help but let the love, romance and passion wash over me while I swoon and drown in it. The sexual situations read as romance and passion more than just the physical act.

You may have played strip poker, but have you ever played strip scrabble. It is writing like this that elevates Perfectly Twisted to such a high level for me. I love a little humor with my horror.

When I finally found out who the necrophiliac was it made sense, but I am still shocked. I didn’t see it coming. Kristine goes that extra mile of creepiness! We can label this as a horror/suspense/thriller.

Mel has become one of my favorite characters. She carries a knife and knows how to use it. Need a body disposed of? A car or a boat? Just give Mel a call. When I saw Mel’s story is next I was ecstatic. I can hardly wait. Her whole persona spoke to me – she’s a real badass and I want to know her better. I wonder…

If you are a romantic suspense fan of the dark kind, Kristine Mason is an author that MUST be on your reading list and Perfectly Twisted is one of those novels that stuck with me long after reading it. I love novels with serial killers and her writing is so thought provoking that at times I forget it’s not real. I am so engrossed, that I feel a real sense of loss when the last page is read.

I received Perfectly Twisted by Kristine Mason in return for an honest and unbiased review.

5 Stars

SYNOPSIS

What do you get when you mix a snake-handling reverend, a necrophiliac, a cop, and an ex-con? Something perfectly twisted…

Sounds like the start of a bad joke? Not to Shane Monahan. The ex-con and newest recruit to the underground criminal investigation group, A.T.L. or Above the Law, has it bad for Collier County Deputy Beth Price. But ex-cons and cops don’t mix, especially when this particular ex-con is looking at going back to prison for his involvement with A.T.L.

All Beth wants is a fun distraction from the stress of her job and law school. She thinks she’s found that when she meets Shane during an airboat tour through the Florida Everglades. But Shane’s a felon, a man who could destroy her career as a deputy, and jeopardize her future as an attorney. She doesn’t know what to do—until dead bodies start showing up around the county.

When three abused corpses are found with snake remains inside them, the discovery brings a murderer out of retirement. The Reverend, as he calls himself, doesn’t like his kills being mimicked, especially by a man who abuses the dead—after all, the Reverend does have a reputation to uphold and a congregation to scam. Now it’s time to teach his copycat a deadly lesson…

Amazon | iBooks | Kobo | Nook | Google Play

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

I didn’t pick up my first romance novel until I was in my late twenties. Immediately hooked, I read a bazillion books before deciding to write one of my own. After the birth of my first son I needed something to keep my mind from turning to mush, and Sesame Street wasn’t cutting it. While that first book will never see the light of day, something good came from writing it. I realized my passion and found a career I love.

When I’m not writing contemporary romances and dark, romantic suspense novels (or reading them!) I’m chasing after my four kids and two neurotic dogs.

Website / Email: authorkristinemason@gmail.com / Facebook / Twitter

MY REVIEWS FOR KRISTINE MASON’S NOVELS

Shadow of Danger / Shadow of Perception / Shadow of Vengeance

Ultimate Kill / Ultimate Fear / Ultimate Prey (review coming soon)

All covers link to Amazon.

The Celeste Files of the Psychic CORE series are paranormal and supernatural novels that star Celeste, from the very first book in the CORE Shadow Trilogy, Shadow of Danger. I love the mix of psychics and ghosts, with murder and thrills. Check them out below.

Perfectly twisted is the beginning of another series, CORE Above the Law, that takes the characters even further than I thought they would go. I am LOVING it!!!

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To see all my Reviews, go HERE.

To see all my Giveaways, go HERE.

If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?

Look on the right sidebar and let’s talk.

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Will they find her before it is too late? – Bad Traffick by DV Berkom

Posted on July 28, 2015 by fundinmental

FREEBIE ALERT: Serial Date has just become free at the following links. Hopefully, Amazon will follow suit soon. Flag this and I will let you know.

iBooks / KOBO / Smashwords / B&N

*Mobi readers can pick it up at Smashwords

BAD TRAFFICK named a 2012 Top 5 Indie Pick by BloodWrites and a Top Pick by Night Owl Reviews! Also recently named a semi-finalist in the Kindle Book Review Best Books of 2013!

Although Bad Traffick is part of a series, it is a standalone novel and can be read by itself.

I am a huge fan of Leine Basso, a strong female protagonist, and DV Berkom. Her thrillers will leave you eagerly anticipating the next one. And I am ready, so bring it on.

Add me to Goodreads now.

MY REVIEW

Judging by the cover of Bad Traffick, I think DV Berkom will be having me gritting my teeth and hanging on the edge of my seat, hoping and praying that Leine Basso will find the girl before the traffickers. And I am not wrong.

Bad Traffick grabs my attention from the opening page and never lets me go. DV Berkom has the ability to put me in a state of suspense from cover to cover, rooting for the good guys…and maybe one not so good gal, while wishing the worst on the criminals and evil that spread their cancer to the young and innocent.

Leine Basso is an ex assassin and is now working security for an actor, Miles Fournier. His long lost sister comes to him for help to find her twelve year old daughter, Mara, who has been kidnapped by traffickers.

Leine is a strong female protagonist who is a suspect in three cold murder cases. She and Jensen, a detective for the LAPD Robbery Homicide Division, have the hots for each other, but with her being a murder suspect, they have to communicate on the down low. Will Jensen risk everything to be with the babe magnet?

Leine has a special relationship with her twenty one year old daughter, April. They have much more in common than your average mother and daughter. They had both been abducted. Now, April wants to learn “the business.” Hmm, could that be a story for another book? I guess we will have to wait and see. In the meantime…

There is much more going on than trafficking and I am very suspicious. Who can you trust? I found myself holding my breath, leaning forward in my seat with my hands tightly clenching the book as over and over again someone tried to kill her. Is it the same person or group? Is there more than one? I know it can’t happen, but I find myself yelling and talking to her, because even I do not know who she can trust.

Bad Trafffick is the second book in The Leine Basso Series, Serial Date being the first. They stand alone, so no cliffhangers or waiting to find out the ending. Still, I can hardly wait to begin the third book in the series, The Body Market, that sits patiently on my side table saying, “Read me.” DV has also just released the fourth book in the series, Cargo.

I received a copy of Bad Traffick from DV Berkom in return for an honest and unbiased review.

5 Stars

SYNOPSIS

Dangerous obsessions take center stage when a former assassin and a homicide detective race against the clock to find a missing girl before she’s lost forever.

Identified as a person of interest in three cold case murders she didn’t commit, ex-assassin Leine Basso accepts a temporary position as a bodyguard for A-list actor Miles Fournier as a favor to Detective Santiago Jensen.

Soon, a woman contacts Miles claiming to be his long-lost sister and confides that her daughter has been abducted by traffickers. Leine must confront her own demons as she races to rescue the girl before it’s too late.

Serial Date is FREE: iBooks / KOBO / Smashwords / B&N

*Mobi readers can pick it up at Smashwords

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

For more information, please visit her website at www.dvberkom.com.

Facebook / Twitter / Blog / Pinterest / Amazon US / Amazon UK/ Newsletter

Author Pages

Amazon / Smashwords / Barnes & Noble / itunes / Kobo

I am reading my way through DV Berkom’s The Leine Basso Thrillers:

5 Star Review – Serial Date by DV Berkom

I am also reading my way through DV Berkom’s Kate Jones Thrillers:

5 Star Review – Yucatan Dead by DV Berkom

5 Star Review – A One Way Ticket To Dead by DV Berkom

The Kate Jones Thriller Series, Vol. 1 box set (includes the 1st four novellas in the series).

(The Kate Jones Thriller Series, Vol. 2 includes Cruising for Death (#5), YD, and AOWTTD, all for $8.99 (bought separately they would be 12.99)

***all covers link to amazon, I am an affiliate***

Check out all these beautiful covers for the Kate Jones thrillers by DV Berkom.

GIVEAWAY

DV Berkom is offering an ebook from her backlist to one individual commenter. International. All you need to do is answer the following question and leave your email:

“I am a *cover girl*. What is your favorite thing about the cover for Bad Traffick by DV Berkom?”

Giveaway runs 7/28/15 – 8/11/15.

Serial Date is FREE: iBooks / KOBO / Smashwords / B&N

*Mobi readers can pick it up at Smashwords

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To see all my Reviews, go HERE.

To see all my Giveaways, go HERE.

If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?

Look on the right sidebar and let’s talk.

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Adventures in Freyna – Exile by Sally Ann Melia

Posted on July 23, 2015 by fundinmental

Sally Ann Melia caught me totally off guard with this awesome story of two young boys lives, in the Guy Erma and the Son of Empire series.

I have read and reviewed the first book, Kidnap, and fell in love with it., so now I am sharing Exile, Part III in the series. You can see my review for Kidnap HERE and my review for Hunter HERE.

Add to Goodreads

Cover: Nevena, Sugarbricks

MY REVIEW

Spoiler Alert: Even though Exile is Part Three of the Guy Erma and the Son of Empire series, I have tried to keep my comments general to keep from giving away any of the goodies contained between the pages.

Exile is Part Three of the Guy Erma and the Son of Empire series. If you are a fan of action and adventure with some science fiction thrown in, this is a series for you. Each book picks up where the other left off. I was fortunate enough to receive Hunter and Exile before I was done with Kidnap, so I was able to continue reading this fantastic series.

The artwork by Sally Dickson will help you see things as they really are, whether it be a character or one of the creatures. We have both probably watched some of the same movies that help to visualize the world and some of the action sequences Sally Ann Melia has created.

I love the combination of fashion, politics and thrills. At times I cannot help but smile and sometimes a chuckle passes over my lips. At least the characters will be fashionable dressed while they are fighting.

Each boy contributes a vital component that brings them together as friends and leaders.

My mother is visiting from out of state and I was very bad. I ignored her so I could finish this series and I loved it.

Kids of all ages will love meeting Teo, Guy, Des and Sebastian. I had characters that I rooted for and characters that I wanted to get what’s coming to them. Sounds like real life.

I find myself lost in the world of Freyna and want to return there as soon as possible. I was lucky enough to have all three of these, but now I have to wait. 😥 How many books will there be? When is the next one due out? Inquiring minds want to know.

I received Exile by Sally Ann Melia in return for an honest review.

5 Stars

SYNOPSIS

13-year-old Teodor has found a way to escape from kidnap, how long before he is safely home?

13-year-old Guy Erma has run away from everything he has even known and no longer knows what the future holds.

They escaped through dark tunnels and back alleys but they also discovered a hidden terror that now threatens their entire planet.

Two boys as different as two boys might be. Their adventure has forged an unexpected friendship, but do they really trust each other?

Dare they share their darkest, deepest secrets?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sally Ann Melia The author was born in Wallasey, England, in 1964, and moved to the South of France when she was eleven. She spent her teenage years living in the cosmopolitan city state of Monaco and became immersed in its many languages and cultures. An English girl in a French school, for three hours each week she would sit at the back of the class as her colleagues learnt English. To pass the time, she wrote stories. This led to a lifetime of writing novels, scripts, stories and articles.

In her working life, Sally writes marketing communications and manages large international websites.

In 2010, Sally joined the Hogs Back Writers, a club located on the outskirts of Guildford, and she set about turning an old manuscript into this novel: Guy Erma and the Son of Empire. Sally currently lives in Farnham, and she is married with two children.

Connect with Sally: Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Pinterest

Exile

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WOW! Debut novel blew me away – Method 15/33 by Shannon Kirk

Posted on July 9, 2015 by fundinmental

The fantastic book trailer for Method 15/33 only gives you a glimpse of what is to come. As she sits on the bed and raises her head, I thought of Poltergeist. I expected her to reach out and…

Method 15/33 by Shannon Kirk is an amazing, top shelf, must read suspense thriller that will have you wondering, will the prey become the predator. I can hardly believe Method 15/33 is a debut novel for Shannon Kirk, it is so damn good!

Winner Of 2015 National Indie Excellence Award For Suspense!

Finalist in the 2013 William Faulkner-William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition as novella 15/33. Method 15/33 is now a full-length novel coming from Oceanview Publishing.

Add me to Goodreads now.

ABOUT METHOD 15/33

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Published by: Oceanview Publishing

Publication Date: May 5, 2015

Number of Pages: 258

ISBN: 1608091457 (ISBN13: 9781608091454)

Purchase Links:

MY REVIEW

I heard about Method 15/33 by Shannon Kirk through a friend and reached out to her. The novel sounded like one of my favorite type of reads and I could hardly wait to pick it up. The suspense had me holding my breath, rooting for her, then afraid of her.

She is a pregnant teenager, abducted and held captive. Her mother had filled her with self esteem and confidence. Is she a sociopath? She is able to turn her feelings on and off, like a light switch. As Shannon describes her attempts to mimic feelings and doing the right thing, it makes me think of Sheldon on the Big Bang Theory.

The vivid detail of the trip to her cell makes me able to picture the wild daisies and devil’s paintbrush on the side of the road. I felt the breeze as she prepared to exit the van. I could smell his stale body odor and his sewer breath.

No matter, she loves her baby and will not give up. She has hope. Her hurt and rage would help her to do what is necessary to exact her revenge. Escape wasn’t enough. They would pay and pay dearly.

My first asset is terra firma…thus begins her plotting – Escape/Revenge Plan 15.

It had been 20 days, but she was constantly thinking, planning. As she runs through scenarios, it made me think of the computer in Person of Interest, going through scenarios, changing them, ruling one out and trying another. She knew she could outwit him.

Alone, locked in a cell, praying the butterfly in the window will calm her, save her. She doesn’t know what loneliness feels like, is this it?

Butterfly (c) Sherry Fundin

She may have her issues, but I love her. My empathy is such, that I want to wrap my arms around her and offer her comfort. She tries and means well…sometimes. Isn’t that what we all do? Even dysfunctional families have their moments of humor, love and togetherness.

Shannon Kirk’s words allow me to feel HER pain, HER loneliness, HER anger and HER rage. I want to scream, yell and cry with her.

FBI Special Agent Roger Lui and partner, Lola were assigned the case. They have been together for five years and know each other better than a spouse would. He is a flawed hero, carrying heavy baggage with his failure to find Dorothy Saluce, an abducted, pregnant teen, deja vu. Lola is someone I can relate to, a tough, no nonsense, one of the guys kind of woman.

She counts seconds, minutes, steps, inches, plotting, planning…a piece of elastic, a pail handle…She didn’t know what would be valuable, so she collected it all. I wonder if she used to watch MacGyver too.

The kidnappers…a fantastic surprise. Twisted. Evil.

She makes herself sick and Shannon Kirk’s mastery of words makes this so gross and disgusting it makes me want to puke too.

33 is water. You will be surprised at its use and importance.

They escape, but OMG, Shannon, you didn’t. My heart fell. I can’t believe it. What an awesome twist. I felt complete terror for her, wanted to yell, hurry, hurry, what the hell are you waiting for? As if it isn’t bad enough, Shannon makes it even worse. How can that be? It just keeps coming and coming, the badness rolling over me like a tsunami wave. Overwhelming, the pacing gripping me as if I’m on a runaway train and hanging on for dear life.

Method 15/33 keeps getting scarier and scarier, the badness goes on and on…out of the frying pan and into the fire.

I love the characters, right to the end, especially HER. This 16 year old sociopath stole my heart.

I don’t know what to say about the emotion roiling inside me as I reach the end. I can’t help but just sit…thinking…thinking…

Shannon wove an awesome story that has left me screaming for more.

To love someone so much you are heartbroken just to look at them.

This, is to have a child.

5+++++

I received a copy of Method 15/33 from Shannon Kirk in return for an honest review.

GUEST POST

I am so excited to have Shannon Kirk here today. I love her debut novel, Method 15/33 and I could not help but fall for the main character, Lisa Yyland. I also, would like to congratulate Shannon on Method 15/33 is being devloped for a feature film. How cool is that? I, for one, can hardly wait to see it!

LET’S TALK ABOUT PSYCHOPATHS

-By Shannon Kirk

Let’s talk about psychopaths. Or, maybe you prefer sociopaths. I’m no psychiatrist, so what I’m talking about are persons whose brains are physiologically wired in such a way that they do not experience emotions as others feel joy, fear, excitement, happiness, remorse, guilt. I’m not talking about people who may be deemed “sociopaths,” not from the physical construction of their brains, but because of environment, a traumatic childhood for example.

What I understood from reading the non-fiction book, The Sociopath Next Door, is there are persons who simply do not understand the sensation of effervescent bubbles rising in your chest when a baby giggles at you, and you giggle back. They might, however, understand the action of smiling in reaction to a baby smiling, the simple physical learned act of social parroting, which is very different from feeling the urge to giggle or smile because of that elusive thing called happiness.

As a lay person, far from being a licensed psychiatrist, I had to read articles and books of the very real medical condition of psychopathy so as to form some basis for the main character in Method 15/33. She holds the traits of a clinical psychopath; for example, she disassociates, lacks empathy, feels no remorse, and plans actions in a way to benefit herself and minimize risk. She’s exceptionally practical in all she does and thinks.

We see this type of character all over popular culture. Hollywood just loves the psychopath. But psychopaths are very real, and indeed, as suggested in The Sociopath Next Door, could be living right next door. The book suggests that some folks who seek out management and politics might hold the common traits of the psychopath or the sociopath. Is this any surprise? How could a billionaire business baron axe 25,000 jobs and the next day be golfing in Tahiti, a smile on his face, and a mai tai with umbrella in his hand? I’m not saying all bosses and all politicians are psychopaths, but when I’ve raised this premise to any group, someone always raises their hand and says, “Oh damn, that’s my boss. He totally fits those traits.”

What got me thinking after reading articles and books on psychopaths was how this condition can exist simply by how someone’s brain is constructed. And if that is so, what natural variations exist in our population? We know that not all psychopaths are “evil,” not all kill women for sport, and not all stalk and kill bad guys according to some “code” (Dexter). So is there a spectrum of psychopathy? On one end you would have Heath Ledger’s Joker or Christian Bale’s American Psycho, on the other you’d have Ms. Whiney Crybaby. You know, the girl who cries at every Kleenex commercial, who yells and stomps and throw pillows and jewelry if her man so much as looks at another woman. No emotion vs. Too much emotion. So what’s in the middle of the spectrum? Normalcy? There must be a middle and ripples from there. This idea, I got stuck on this idea.

I wanted to explore the idea of a spectrum of psychopathy in a fictional way. For example, what if a psychopath was wired in such a way that she could choose to feel emotions? If a person can be wired in a such a way that they physically cannot feel emotions, then why couldn’t a person exist who can control when they feel certain emotions? Also, what if there are people who sometimes slip into a form of psychopathy, while at other times are fully emotionally functional. Have you ever been so absorbed in a work project that you cannot understand why a person is crying in your doorway about the same work project until you stop what you’re doing, calibrate your mood, take a minute to absorb, and then when you take a breath or two, you finally empathize? If that is possible for most everyone, then what if such moments of disassociation are prolonged in certain people? I have to believe this is possible. In the very least, the idea, this spectrum of possibilities with psychopathy, is a breeding ground for fiction.

In my novel Method 15/33, I chose to contort the medical condition of psychopathy and create a character that controls emotions. She often chooses not to feel any emotions, and because of this, like true psychopaths, has had to “learn” appropriate social reactions. I then wanted to meld with this condition another condition in psychology having to do with “cross modal neuroplasticity”—essentially, how a person who loses one sense, gains a “super” sense in something else, such as how a deaf person might have exceptional eyesight. What I wanted to explore, again entirely on a theoretical fictional basis, basically I just made it up, was a psychopath character, who controls emotions, and her emotions are “senses”, such that since she often lacks them, her other senses are somewhat enhanced. For example, although she is blindfolded, because she is not experiencing fear or any other emotion, her smell of the air and her feel of the temperature, the precise weight of her steps on the ground, tell her the type of terrain she’s on, how long a stretch of forest is through which she is forced, what specific trees scrapes her arms, and what the nature, climate, look, and use of the land is where she is taken, as if she were seeing it with her very eyes.

So while any psychiatrist could probably poke a thousand million holes in my writer’s theory, I do actually believe that in our world, there is a wide spectrum of psychopathy, of cross-modal neuroplasticity, and that emotions just may be some form of “sense.” Who knows if we’ll ever crack the code to our brains, and frankly, I hope we don’t. It’s just too much fun to make up stories, twisting the boundaries of psychology we think we know.

SYNOPSIS

Kidnapped, pregnant teen turns the tables. Who is the victim and who is the aggressor?

Imagine a helpless, pregnant 16-year-old who’s just been yanked from the serenity of her home and shoved into a dirty van. Kidnapped…

Alone…Terrified.

Now forget her…

Picture instead a pregnant, 16-year-old, manipulative prodigy. She is shoved into a dirty van and, from the first moment of her kidnapping, feels a calm desire for two things: to save her unborn child and to exact merciless revenge.

She is methodical—calculating— scientific in her plotting. A clinical sociopath? Leaving nothing to chance, secure in her timing and practice, she waits—for the perfect moment to strike. Method 15/33 is what happens when the victim is just as cold as her abductors.

The agents searching for a kidnapped girl have their own frustrations and desires wrapped into this chilling drama. In the twists of intersecting stories, one is left to ponder. Who is the victim? Who is the aggressor?

Praise

“Method 15/33 is crowded with fascinating characters—even the spear carriers pop off the page—but the standout is the kidnapped pregnant teenager. Her captors want her baby. Little do they know they’ve brought an insanely brilliant, angry, vengeful, borderline sociopath under their roof. Somebody’s in big trouble… and it isn’t the teenager.” —F. Paul Wilson, New York Times best-selling author of Santa Jack

“Completely original and totally kick ass! Shannon Kirk pulls no punches in this adrenaline rush of a thriller where the victim is the one to watch, while the kidnappers learn to fear. Loved it!” —Lisa Gardner, New York Times best-selling author of Fear Nothing

“What happens when infant traffickers kidnap the wrong pregnant teen? You get Method 15/33, a cross between The Lovely Bones and Silence of the Lambs. Shannon Kirk’s debut thriller is a dark, literate page-turner, utterly compelling. I read it in one sitting.” —Leonard Rosen, Award-winning author of All Cry Chaos and The Tenth Witness

“Wow. Ridiculously good. Crazy good. Brilliantly heart-stoppingly nail-bitingly original, this is a true thriller tour de force. Shannon Kirk is an instant star.” —Hank Phillippi Ryan Agatha, Anthony winning author of Truth be Told

ABOUT SHANNON KIRK

Shannon Kirk is a practicing attorney and a law professor. She attended West Virginia Wesleyan and St. John’s Universities, is a graduate of Suffolk Law School, and was a trial lawyer in Chicago prior to moving to Massachusetts. She has been honored three times by the Faulkner Society in the William Faulkner-William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband, a physicist, and their son. Method 15/33 is her first novel.

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GIVEAWAY

ALERT: Due to illness, I was unable to promote this properly so I am extending the giveaway for another week. Be sure and enter know for your chance at a copy of Method 15/33 by Shannon Kirk.

Shannon Kirk is offering a a print autographed copy of Method 15/33 to a US or Canadian resident. To enter, leave your email and answer the question:

What would be your first response if you were kidnapped?

Giveaway runs from July 9 – July 23, 2015.

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Learn More About This Awesome New Thriller & Author At these sites!

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Fanfrickingtastic ~ Review: Celeste by Kristine Mason

Posted on June 8, 2015 by fundinmental

I am so happy to be able to share Celeste Files: Unlocked (Book 1 Psychic CORE): Psychic CORE the latest and greatest novel from Kristine Mason.

OMG, if you are looking for mind blowing paranormal/romantic/suspense, then pick up a copy of Celeste Files: Unlocked today. Kristine works very hard to give the reader a top of the line read and I believe you will not be disappointed.

I will also be sharing of glimpse of Book II, Celeste Files: Unjust by Kristine Mason. Another AMAZING cover! The cover is a bit different from her other ones, but when you read the novel it fits perfectly.

I hope you will check out her work and add this amazing author and her C.O.R.E group to your reading list.

Add me to Goodreads now.

MY REVIEW

I am always eager to get my hands on another Kristine Mason novel and have met Celeste before, in Shadow of Danger (Book 1 CORE Shadow Trilogy) (CORE shadow triology). These books stand alone, but I think once you read one, you will want to read them all, so might as well start at the beginning, with the C.O.R.E Shadow Trilogy, three books in one. Or start with Celeste, the first novel in Celeste’s very own series.

Kristine Mason caught me off guard. Fanfrickingtastic from the very first page. She is very good at grabbing my attention and keeping it, from the opening page to the closing page. Her pacing and suspense is superb. She had me sitting on the edge of my seat, and with each new book her writing amazes all over again.

Celeste is a psychic, she has premonitions. The dead like to talk to her. Does this enable her to change the future or just get answers for something that has already happened? Her mother had been a psychic, but was in denial. Would Olivia, her daughter, be one too?

Her father is Ian, who founded C.O.R.E., a private investigative agency. She had used her abilities to help in investigations, but she hasn’t had any visions in two years.She is married to John, who doesn’t understand her psychic abilities but loves her completely. She has a fourteen month old baby and loves being a mom. She quit working for C.O.R.E. and opened a bakery, the Sugar Shack. (Great name, Kristine. Brings forth good memories and leaves a song reverberating through my mind.)

All the characters are of a type, each special and talented in their own way. I have come to think of them as my family. They have all the problems you and I have, plus some extras.

John wants one thing and Celeste wants another, so where is the compromise between two professionals raising a baby and wanting another. Who will care for the children while they are working? Communication is always the key. Sometimes our perceptions can be wrong.

Celeste’s psychic gifts return. She does not know how they will reconcile John’s dislike of her gift, so she keeps it a secret from him. What price will she pay when he finds out?

NOW, it has become imperative she discover all her abilities and learn to control them, not let them control her. Danger surrounds her. She needs help. I loved that Maxine, the woman who would be her mentor, has a unicorn room. I used to collect unicorns and have them scattered throughout my home. Kristine seems to hit all my buttons. 🙂

Kelly, her friend’s mom dies, but her vision showed her something, something that kept nagging at her, not letting her go. She couldn’t quite grasp what had happened. Have you been trying to think of something and it hovers just out of your grasp? Have you found your mind going round and round, refusing to be shut off? Mine does all the time. 😐

Celeste goes into trances that are so deep, she is afraid she may not return from them. She died with Kelly, feeling what she felt, seeing what she saw. She is afraid the next time, she may walk with the dead into the light. Imagine John’s terror at seeing her like that, unable to call her back.

Celeste listens to a tape John made while she was in a trance, trying to understand his fears. Now she understands, but that still doesn’t change anything. He believes in facts, evidence and science and struggles to understand her psychic world. Some people need to feel, see and touch, no faith in acceptance and belief for what can’t be explained. For Celeste to use her abilities to solve a murder was not a surprise for her, but was there more to it, more that she would not let her mind confront?

I love the sexual banter between Celeste and John. The love and romance is hot without being graphic. Kristine talks about the pitter patter of little baby feet and I hear it. She talks about babby babble and I want to speak it. The mommy/daddy/baby banter is so sweet, cute and loving, it puts a smile on my face. So much love from John as he grapples with her gifts. And secrets? Would you want your friends, and family to know all of yours?

“I’m always a bundle of nerves over what might happen to you when you’re working a case. What gets me through is knowing you’ll do whatever it takes to come back to me and Olivia. Trust that I would do the same.”

Celeste makes me think of the Ghost Whisperer, a TV show with Jennifer Love-Hewitt. She talked to earthbound spirits and helped them cross over into the light.

I want to race through the pages and work very hard to slow myself down. I want to savor the delicious morsels before me.

Kristine, like many authors with their “babies”, works very hard to produce the best product for her readers and I believe she does this in spades.

If you love romantic suspense novels, Kristine Mason’s books are a MUST READ. They stand above many New York Times bestselling authors.

I received an ARC from the author and am ecstatic to share my honest review with you!

5 Stars+++++

SYNOPSIS

Some secrets should remain locked in the past…

Celeste Kain hasn’t had a psychic vision in two years. After being brutally attacked while helping criminal investigation agency CORE stop a serial killer, her mind repressed her clairvoyant abilities. Married to CORE agent, John Kain, mother to their toddler, Olivia, and owner of an up-and-coming bakery, Celeste has been doing fine psychic-free. Only now the dead are using her body to tell their stories again…putting her new life and family at risk.Haunted by a murdered woman, Celeste turns to a psychic mentor to learn how to control her gift, protect her family and bring justice to the dead. But the more she digs into the dead woman’s past, the further she slips into the unknown, unlocking secrets literally worth killing for. As the body count rises, it becomes clear: someone in the dead woman’s family is deeply, violently wrong. And Celeste needs to be careful, before she loses something more precious to her than her life.Celeste Risinski, the heroine of Shadow of Danger (Book 1 CORE Shadow Trilogy), is back with her own series. Join her as she learns how to deal with being a wife, mom, baker and…psychic investigator.

Check out her latest, yet to be released CORE novel.

Cover links to Celeste Files: Unlocked, Book I of the series on Amazon

Add to Goodreads now.

SYNOPSIS

Celeste Files: Unjust (Book 2 Psychic C.O.R.E.)—Kristine Mason

Dealing with the dead is murder…

Psychic Celeste Kain has two things on her mind, relaxing for a week in Florida with her husband, John, and making a baby. But a fishing trip turns her vacation into a nightmare when she reels in the body of a dead boat captain and accidentally unleashes an evil ghost who has one thing on his mind…revenge.

As the dead boat captain haunts Celeste, she looks deeper into his past and discovers that his murderer had done the world a favor. The ghost tormenting Celeste doesn’t see it that way and will go to any length to avenge his death. If Celeste won’t give him what he wants, he will take over her body and use her as a weapon…to kill her husband.

Celeste Risinski, the heroine of Shadow of Danger (Book 1 C.O.R.E. Shadow Trilogy), is back with her own series. Join her as she learns how to deal with being a wife, mom, baker and…psychic investigator.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

When I’m not writing contemporary romances and dark, romantic suspense novels (or reading them!) I’m chasing after my four kids and two neurotic dogs.

Website / Email: authorkristinemason@gmail.com / Facebook / Twitter

MY REVIEWS FOR KRISTINE MASON’S NOVELS

Shadow of Danger / Shadow of Perception / Shadow of Vengeance

Ultimate Kill / Ultimate Fear / Ultimate Prey (coming soon)

Perfectly Twisted (coming soon)

All covers link to Amazon

Perfectly twisted is the beginning of another series, CORE Above the Law, that takes the characters even further than I thought they would go. I am LOVING it!!!