The Burning Desire Dupe by James Blakely is a novel about a houseboat, The Burning Desire, in Juneau Alaska, that is burnt to the ground. Insurance investigators are brought in, and that is when we meet Luna Nightcrow.
Luna is an insurance investigator. She is fifty years old and a Cherokee. I love to see a character that is on the older side, but still manages to be able to hold her own and I do love diverse characters. She had been fired from a California fraud case, so she figured it was a great time to hop on a cruise ship heading to Juneau. She had no idea she would become embroiled in the intrigue that surrounded the destruction of The Burning Desire.
Luna runs into a familiar villain in Juneau, Casper Duppy. He thought he would have a light sentence if he was ever caught, because his crimes were on tribal land. Tough luck for him, because they would add crime on top of crime to take him out of circulation. Now he is suspected of arson.
“Meet the Sting smartphone protector stun gun.” I love it…and I want one.
“Do you want me to have a heart attack on the spot?” Stackhouse gasped.
“Don’t worry. I know CPR.” Luna tried to assure him.
James Blakely adds some lightness and humor to the death and destruction. The mystery of who burned the houseboat was not easily solved. There are plenty of suspects to go around. The danger was subtle, but I had every confidence that Luna could handle whatever came her way.
If you are looking for an intriguing mystery with some intriguing characters, you might want to give The Burning Desire Dupe by James Blakely a try.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
The heat is on when a reckless chase gets insurance investigator Luna Nightcrow fired from a California fraud case. But her Alaskan cruise “vacation” becomes an even hotter mess when The Burning Desire, a houseboat turned gentleman’s club in Juneau, burns. And when its shady owner Bernie Sparks is accused of arson, the heat of passion and assassination threaten Luna and fire investigator Kelly Day’s race to find the truth. Ashes, intrigue, and innuendo abound in this not-so-quaint capital town.
Genre: Action And Adventure, Fiction, Indigenous Literature, Women’s Fiction
344 pages, Paperback
Published September 22, 2025 by Powers That Be Publishing
ABOUT JAMES BLAKELY
James Blakley was educated at Missouri Western State College and Washburn University. While at MWSC, he was a local and national award-winning columnist and co-editor of “The Griffon-News” (Associated Collegiate Press Award 1992-93).
Blakley worked 10 1/2 years as a page and as an Assistant Librarian for the River Bluffs Regional Libraries of St. Joseph, MO. He currently lives in Topeka,KS where he worked for The Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library before spending several years in clerical and customer support capacities for international computer companies such as EDS and HP. Additionally, Blakley has worked in information gathering and analysis for various government agencies and programs for over a decade.
This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Gail Koger will be awarding a $15 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
I was sixteen when I found out not only am I an alien hybrid, but monsters called the Tai-Kok were getting ready to invade our world. Guess who gets to stop them? Me! How?
My uncle, the mad scientist, created a machine called the portal that instantaneously sends a test subject from one location to another by converting them into energy. His idea is to port me onto a Tai-Kok ship. All I have to do is leave a bomb, hit the retrieval button on my spiffy traveler’s belt and poof! I’m back on Earth before the Tai-Kok ship goes kaboom. Sounds simple, right?
Wrong. Uncle Ben doesn’t have a clue where I’ll actually appear on the ship. It could be the engine room, the crew quarters, or even the bridge. It’s like playing Russian roulette. The Tai-Kok don’t like surprises or uninvited guests.
To make things even more fun, I have an alien battle commander stuck in my head and I’m related to a powerful Coletti warlord. Yippee. The chances of me living to see eighteen aren’t good.
Read an Excerpt
“Give ‘em hell.” A wild look in his eyes, Uncle Ben tapped on the console.
The circles of light surrounded me, but this time it felt like a zillion fire ants were crawling over my body. Holy hell! Something had gone wrong! I appeared in midair and dropped like a rock. Smack! I slammed into someone, and my Glock went flying.
My eyes bugged. I was on the bridge of a futuristic warship, and the viewscreen showed one hell of a space battle going on. To make things even more fun, I was lying across the lap of a huge, muscle-bound male wearing black battle armor. Since he was sitting in the captain’s chair, I was assuming he was the boss.
A very angry-looking boss. I blinked. Holy cow was he good-looking, if you were into the whole merciless predator thing. Huh? The red chains woven into his black warrior’s braids matched the communication device on his left wrist. Who knew aliens accessorized and why did I care? I took a deep breath trying to control the panic streaking through me.
A low growl rumbled in his chest.
One look into his disturbingly hostile amber eyes and I knew I was in big trouble. I reached for my retrieval button.
His arms clamped around me painfully, and he spat a bunch of gobbledygook.
“Sorry, I don’t speak that language,” I replied mentally. Somehow, I knew he was psychic.
A harsh voice sounded in my head, “How did you get through our shields.”
“Dunno. My uncle is the scientific genius, not me. I’m just the delivery girl.”
“What do you deliver?”
Did I look stupid? The minute I told him bombs; he’d kill me. I pasted a friendly smile on my face. “Stuff. I’m Lexi and you are?”
“Battle Commander Kaelen. I serve Zarek the Coletti Overlord.”
About the Author: I was a 9-1-1 dispatcher for the Glendale Police Department and to keep from going totally bonkers – I mean people have no idea what a real emergency is. Take this for example: I answered, “9-1-1 emergency, what’s your emergency?” And this hysterical woman yelled, “My bird is in a tree.” Sometimes I really couldn’t help myself, so I said, “Birds have a tendency to do that, ma’am.” The woman screeched, “No! You don’t understand. My pet parakeet is in the tree. I’ve just got to get him down.” Like I said, not a clue. “I’m sorry ma’am but we don’t get birds out of trees.” The woman then cried, “But… What about my husband? He’s up there, too.” See what I had to deal with? To keep from hitting myself repeatedly in the head with my phone I took up writing.
I have been reading Ken La Salle’s books for some time now. He possesses a vivid imagination and his stories make for some fabulous reading. Here’s his take on his latest novel, The Death & Life Of Arturo Delgado.
Hi Ken. It’s good to have you here today.
There comes this moment in the career of many authors. That last pitch.
I was working with an agent I respected but my book just wasn’t selling. I needed something new and hot and I came up with… werewolves? Werewolves taking over San Francisco? I don’t even like werewolves; they’re terrible on toast.
The pitch was a disaster, of course, and the agent and I parted ways amicably.
As my fiftieth birthday approached, however, I looked back on that pitch. Hidden away, beneath the werewolves and the fur and the werewolf chow were some very odd ideas. As an author, I live for odd ideas, ideas that stand out so far they pierce the veil of my worst ideas.
One such idea was my usual out of time and out of place character but with such a rough edge that it took years for me to put it into words. This is what authors do, though. They find an idea and they work it from odd, from rough, to undeniable.
That idea was: James Bond meets The Lord of The Rings.
Not literally, though. Strip away the Intellectual Property, the IP. I was more interested in deconstructing and merging the genres. So, on my fiftieth birthday, I made myself a promise, to write a nine-part space opera called The BreakThrough.
In the universe of The BreakThrough, the biggest question revolves around energy, as it always does. Those with the most power hold the most energy and understand how to travel faster than the speed of light. The lesser civilizations can only hope to travel that fast, the cost being so great you might as well acquire magic. As you might expect, our planet intersects there.
An unwell-kempt detective, Max Dedge stumbles upon a vast mystery of assassins plunging from San Francisco rooftops, a beautiful wizard who can control fire with a thought, and something called The Time of The Uniborg where all magics come together. There’s also this crystal that can either take him to new worlds or destroy this one; he’s not sure.
Single mother and restauranteur, Sue Jorgensen (the Queen of Space), tracks down the only man who can step between worlds, Max Dedge. She knows where the Earth fits in this galactic quest for magic and will use this knowledge and anything she must to save her son who is lost in a galaxy of enslaved Dreamers.
Neither of them will be safe without Arturo Delgado, however. They need the thief with the heart of a safe cracker, the only one who can be totally honest with them, the only one who can tell them exactly what they need to know. Sadly, he dies in his first book.
The BreakThrough is a gurgling, spicy stew of alien invaders, epic fantasy, social satire, romance, fun, and stand up and cheer kind of excitement that has only begun. No werewolves required.
Arturo Delgado is a jack of all (illegal) trades and a master of none. He thought of Max Dedge as a one trick pony. Since meeting Max, he has learned there is more than what meets the eye in this world. There’s aliens, magic, crystals that allow you to travel through the universe and worlds that could never be dreamed of.
In The Death And Life Of Arturo Delgado, the band gets back together again. Arturo, Max and Sue Jorgensen. Sue is looking for her son, who is still lost in the universe. Even worse, aliens are coming to take over the world. We are just pesky little critters that are in their way.
Ken La Salle has a wildly creative imagination that makes for entertaining reading. His stories are unpredictable, making each event a surprise. Half the time I don’t know whether to laugh or cry or shout at the characters. Sure makes for some fantastic reading and I always look forward to the next story.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
A suitcase full of alien diamonds…
It’s everything Arturo Delgado has always wanted.
And it didn’t come cheap.
Art had once been the proprietor of one of Mexico’s hottest up and coming bars until Max Dedge had flown in with some beautiful wizard and burned the place to the ground. Art’s only option had been to follow Max from nation to nation, from world to world, until the debt was paid.
And did Max pay it? No. He was off on some adventure to another world, a world with magic and aliens and a cave full of diamonds, which Max Dedge refused to share. The only alternative left to Art was to steal the diamonds for himself and run before Max Dedge could find him.
Now, he’s looking for a way to sell a suitcase full of alien diamonds and doing his best not to be traced. In Washington State, he stops at a little restaurant owned by Sue Jorgensen (future Queen of Space) and devises a plan that will leave him rich for life and show the great Max Dedge who came out on top.
That’s all that matters. Not the eggplant aliens coming to destroy the world. Not the pasty slaves who sound like they came out of a 1970s sitcom. Not the Queen of Space.
All that matters now is a suitcase full of alien diamonds… and making Max Dedge pay.
Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Science Fiction
288 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 28, 2025
Series: The Breakthrough #3
ABOUT KEN LA SALLE
Born on an 18th century mining ship, Ken La Salle is not his name. He just likes it. He writes about whatever he damn well pleases, hoping to build more of a cult following than a readership just for a cut on the robes. Looking for the mainstream but sticking to the shore, you can find out more about Ken La Salle at the imaginatively named www.kenlasalle.com.
Ken La Salle is offering a digital copy of The Death And Life Of Arturo Delgado to two lucky winners.
What is your favorite thing about science fiction novels? Do you like the quirky characters? The novel planets and spaceships? The situations an author puts their characters in?
Leave a comment and email address so we can contact you. Sorry US only.
Book Title: ISLANDS IN THE MIST (Book 1) by J.M. Hofer
Category: Adult Fiction (18 yrs +), 394 pages Genre: Fantasy Publisher: Indie Release date: July 10, 2014 Content Rating: PG-13 +M: 1) contains mild profanity, 2) contains occasional non-explicit sex scenes, but Book 4 has a rape scene, hence the rating, 3) contains battle violence but it’s not gory or explicit
Book Description:
Set in Iron Age Britain and steeped in Welsh legend, the Islands in the Mist series brings to life the magic and mystery of the Arthurian Age.
In Islands in the Mist, we meet the great warrior, Bran, called home from the battlefield to his mother’s deathbed. He honors her final wish by vowing to solve the mystery of what fatally attacked her in the night. Though many have dismissed it as a wolf attack, she insists it was not, and encourages him to seek the counsel of Talhaiarn, druid advisor to their clan.
On his journey, Bran encounters the fiery Lucia, widow to a Roman centurion, and her strangely-gifted stable boy, Gwion–an enigmatic child graced with understanding beyond his years. Lucia possesses “the Sight,” an ability that has plagued her from the time she was a small girl, tormenting her with disturbing visions of events that invariably come to pass. Fate leads her to discover many of her maternal ancestors were masterful women gifted with similar psychic abilities and that some of them have been watching her from the shadows for years.
Upon returning to his village, Bran finds himself at odds with the hot-tempered Aelhaearn, who is determined to become their clan’s next chieftain. To Aelhaearn’s disappointment, Bran’s sister, now priestess in her mother’s place, convinces the clan to choose Bran for the honor instead. In the aftermath of their conflict, Bran discovers something shocking about his rival that causes him to rue his sister’s decision.
As everyone strives to unravel the mystery surrounding their nocturnal enemies, their creator patiently carries out her plan, woven from the exploited weaknesses of her opponents. Slowly, all but one are pulled into the seductive maelstrom of her power.
Unable to force her eyes open any longer, the world in front of her went black.
WOW! What an opening. Peggy Jaeger hit hard and never let up.
What a fabulous cover and the title is spot on for Retribution by Peggy Jaeger.
Tucker Petrie is the star of the SPCD – the Sexual Predators Of Children Profilers. Six teenage girls were kidnapped, brutalized, and murdered in the Washngton DC are and Tucker is on the job, but, he will need help. He sent the Petrie Posse to approach his last partner and retired profiler, Kella O’Brien.
Tucker and Kella have known each other since she was twelve years old. They are best friends, but Kella had made a life of her own and left the dangerous world of the FBI behind. But, when she got all the details, she couldn’t say no.
The writing flows smoothly, even though the tragic story made me stumble at times. Sure, some moments were predictable, but I felt they were necessary to keep the story moving forward. The danger and cruelty that comes from the villain, leaves nothing to the imagination. At times I found myself holding my breath, devouring the words as fast as I can. The suspense was off the charts.
Retribution by Peggy Jaeger is not for the faint of heart, so brace yourself and dive into this unputdownable psychological thriller.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
6 teenage girls have been kidnapped, brutalized, and murdered in the Washington DC area and the FBI’s SPCD Unit – the Sexual Predators of Children Profilers – are nowhere close to finding the monster responsible. How are the victims chosen? How does the killer find them, contact them, lure them into his sick web? Questions the team has no answers for.
When a high-ranking US Senator’s daughter is the next victim, SPCD team leader, Tucker Petrie, is forced to call upon retired profiler — and his last partner — Kella O’Brien for help. Kella’s been out of the game for 10 years, but her expertise and insights into a serial killer’s mind are unparalleled. If anyone can discover who this madman is, it’s Kella.
But as the team rushes to prevent another young girl’s death, clues the killer leaves behind have Kella wondering if his endgame is all about…her.
Genre: Fiction, Psychological, Serial Killer, Suspense, Thriller
Peggy is a contemporary romance writer who writes #RomComs about #strong women, the families who support them, and the men who can’t live without them.
#Family and #food play huge roles in Peggy’s stories because she believes there is nothing that holds a family structure together like sharing a meal…or two…or ten. Dotted with humor and characters that are as real as they are loving, Peggy brings all topics of daily life into her stories: life, death, sibling rivalry, illness and the desire for everyone to find their own happily ever after. Growing up the only child of divorced parents she longed for sisters, brothers and a family that vowed to stick together no matter what came their way. Through her books, she has created the families she wanted as that lonely child.
Her #hobbies include #painting #crafting #scrapbooking and #decoupaging old steamer trucks that she then gives as gifts to her friends
As a lifelong diarist, Peggy caught the blogging bug early on, and you can visit her at peggyjaeger.com where she’s blogging about life, writing, and stuff that makes her go “What??!” daily.
She’s a lifelong and avid #romance reader and writer, is a member of RWA and her local New Hampshire RWA Chapter
I used to do some freelance work with my husband Eric. He is in the TV business and we cashed in on a lot of perks. He was directing the Jumbotron at the Buffalo Bills game and I was operating the parabolic microphone on the sidelines. Good practice for spy work. 🙂 That thing got awful heavy by the time the game was over. It’s also kind of dangerous. Ya gotta keep your head on a swivel because the players can come at you hard and fast. The trick is to step sideways. Anyhoo it was a fun day.
Our bodies record what happens to us physically throughout our lives. This is illustrated by the simple appearance of scars from injuries sustained years, and even decades ago. Evidence such as scars also tells us how we used our joints or may have injured them as children and adults. Our bodies conform to the environment in which we live, both outside and inside. By examining and observing these key clues, a forensic investigator can reveal the unique character that tells the story of a person’s life and death.
Craniofacial Anatomy and Forensic Identification is an atlas that covers all aspects of facial reconstruction and anatomy of the head and neck, such as facial expression and the anatomic basis for facial development, along with the effects of muscle movement. Written by a world-renowned forensic artist with decades of experience as a scientific illustrator as well as a portraitist, anthropologist, and lecturer in anatomy and biology, the author is as much a scientist as an artist.
Comprehensively addresses the history o facial reconstruction, facial development, muscle movements, and bone physiology used by forensic artists and forensic anthropologists
Demonstrates techniques in mold making and sculpting to bring the body to life
Includes images from cadaver labs and recent case studies
Provides detailed anatomy of vessels and nerves found in the face including the eyes
Details the muscles, ligaments and tissues down to the skull
Describes the changing face as it ages
Book Details:
Genre: Non-Fiction, True Crime, Published by: Academic Press Publication Date: October 13, 2022 Number of Pages: 302 ISBN: 9780128092880 (ISBN10: 0128092882) Audience: Forensic Anthropologists, Forensic Artists, Medico-legal Professionals, Forensic Scientists. Graduate Students, Law Enforcement Agencies, and Legal Professionals. Anyone Working In The Field Of Facial Imaging. Book Links:Amazon | Kindle | Barnes & Noble | ThriftBooks | Goodreads | ScienceDirect | Walmart | Elsevier
Author Bio:
Gloria Nusse is a forensic artist, anatomist and anthropologist. She has aided in identification of unidentified remains and return 14 plus persons to their families. As well she has recreated the faces of ancient peoples of the Middle East, as well as recreations of the crystal skull for National Geographic among others. Her work has been featured on 48 Hours, Forensic Files, Dateline, National Geographic specials, Unsolved History and others. She worked as a scientific artist for over 35 years and has taught human dissection and anatomy at San Francisco State University for 12 years. ( currently Emeritus)
She has authored and co-authored several journal articles and chapters for various publications. She was the invited speaker for the Chalmers Historical Address for the Association of Oral and Maxillary surgeons meeting in 2013.
As well she has taught many workshops for professionals, including the FBI.
The president is dead. His son’s pretending he’s not. And the corpse? Well, that’s missing.
When the CIA sniffs out whispers that an African general—who also happens to be the president’s darling son—may have murdered dear old dad and stashed the body like last week’s leftovers, they send in their best bloodhound: Agent Shawn Wayles. He’s good at two things—digging up dirt and getting shot at in places the U.S. swears it’s not involved.
This time, Shawn’s not alone. He’s paired with an LGBTQ couple who have more secrets than the Vatican and fewer moral brakes.
Their mission? Retrieve the dead president’s body from the general’s paranoid, trigger-happy security team.
Because in this twisted power struggle, it’s not the living who rule—it’s the guy in the coffin. And whoever has the corpse… controls the country.
Praise for The Missing Corpse:
“A work of fiction told with the force of truth.” ~ The Niche
“Right off the bat, I could tell this was going to be a dark read. There is a real sense of menace and threat from the get go… Thoroughly enjoyed this and will definitely be up for reading any future books.” ~ Donna Morfett, Goodreads Review
“I thought the plot was a fantastic idea and brilliantly written.” ~ Claire Ball, Goodreads Review
Book Details:
Genre: Crime Thriller Published by: Black Writers Ink LLC Publication Date: September 11, 2025 Number of Pages: 379 ISBN: 979-8990984448 Series: The General’s Project, Book 2 Book Links:Amazon | Kindle | Barnes & Noble | BookShop.org | Goodreads | BookBub | Audible
Read an excerpt:
The General knew—like a rotting tooth you can’t stop tonguing—just how hard his old man had worked to hammer him into something resembling a real man, using boot camps, backdoor deals, and enough disappointment to fill a graveyard.
Before the president found Twitter—sorry, X—for him, he mostly just found disappointment. And not the subtle, quiet kind. No, this was loud, public, teeth-grinding failure. The kind that makes a father grip his whiskey glass hard enough to shatter it. The boy was dull. A wet match in a thunderstorm. The people ignored him like a pothole they’d grown used to swerving around.
The president, who fancied himself a blend of warlord and wise grandfather, had done all the right things—by dictator standards. He’d oiled the machinery, laid the bricks. He’d shipped the lad off to Sandhurst, the British womb for future coup-makers and ceremonial dictators. But the academy spat him out like a bad oyster after just one year. Reason? “Intellectual capacity insufficient for command responsibilities.” That’s British for “the boy was dumb as soup.”
Panic set in. The president, no stranger to coups or cover-ups, scrambled for another boot camp that would accept his undercooked progeny. And God bless Africa—it never disappoints. Egypt, under old mummy Hosni Mubarak, opened its arms. The president’s warning was clear as day and sharp as a bayonet: “If you fail here, don’t ever mention my name again.” The boy emerged months later with a piece of paper that said he could command a battalion. No one bothered to ask if it was his own handwriting.
Still not satisfied, Daddy rang his buddies in Langley. Mr. Taylor—CIA spook with a neck like a tree stump—hooked him up with a slot at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. That’s where the U.S. trained its foreign military friends—the ones that smiled for cameras by day and broke skulls by night. The General graduated. Barely. His grades so low they had to be excavated.
Back home, the president, desperate to turn the boy into something—anything—decided to mold him into a public figure. He hired speech coaches, media whisperers, ex-BBC anchors, even a former Miss Uganda who once read the weather on WBS Television. Still, every time the General opened his mouth in public, it was a horror show. His hands trembled like a leaf in a blender. He couldn’t pronounce words. Once, he called “sovereignty” soup-ver-nanny and the room went so silent you could hear careers dying.
But then came the miracle: Twitter. Well, X. Rebranded like a shady funeral home. The president’s advisors—witchdoctors in suits—pitched a bold idea: give the boy a Twitter account. Hire a comedian ghostwriter. Make him sound dangerous. Sexy. Unhinged. Like Idi Amin with a smartphone.
Enter the ghostwriter—a washed-up tabloid journalist who once faked an alien sighting in Karamoja and got sued by a Catholic bishop. The guy was perfect. He knew how to stir the pot with one tweet and have the country boiling by lunch.
The General gave him ideas—half-mumbled thoughts between sips of imported whiskey—and the ghostwriter turned them into gold. Tweets like: Kenya has two weeks left. Consider this your final warning. #WeMarchAtDawn
The country gasped. The president “fired” the General. He even sent an apology to Kenya. A public scandal. Oh no, Daddy can’t control his baby boy! The media gobbled it up like pigs at a buffet.
But behind the curtain, the ghostwriter kept churning out wild, headline-drenched tweets. The General was now lusting after Beyoncé and Ayra Starr like a horny war god in fatigues. He made bizarre threats about airstrikes on Tanzanian Bongo Flava concerts. People were horrified. People were entertained.
***
Excerpt from chapter 24 of The Missing Corpse by Yasin Kakande. Copyright 2025 by Yasin Kakande. Reproduced with permission from Yasin Kakande. All rights reserved.
Author Bio:
Yasin Kakande is an international journalist, TED Global Fellow, and author of several critically praised non-fiction books, including “Why We Are Coming” and “Slave States,” which offer fresh perspectives on immigration and geopolitics. His journalism career includes contributions to outlets such as The New York Times, Thomson Reuters, Al Jazeera, The National, and The Boston Globe. Yasin holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Emerson College and resides outside Boston.
