EXCLUSIVE TO HER NEWSLETTER SUBSCRIBERS. So, if you want to get a glimpse into Leine Basso’s psyche and why sex traffickers make her ‘crazy’, sign up today
I am a huge fan of Leine Basso and DV Berkom is a must read author for me. To get this prequel, highlighting Leina Basso’s introduction to the life of an assassin and how she became the Leopard, visit DV’s website and sign up for the newsletter.
Eric found her at sixteen. She was sent on honey traps in the beginning.
Eric mentioned it wouldn’t do much good to stem the sex trafficking of those young girls – mainly because such crimes were low priority. Leine could, would, not turn her back on them. I was as filled with disgust as Leine was and I only hope, if I were in her position, I could act as she does.
A short, interesting read showcasing my favorite DV Berkom character.
3 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
The untold story of Leine’s early years.
Before she was Leine Basso, elite assassin, she was just Leine, sixteen years old and recently orphaned. Find out how she transformed from angry and alone to formidable assassin, The Leopard.
ABOUT D V BERKOM
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.
Book Title: FADE TO BLUE by Hank Scheer Category: Adult Fiction (18+), 288 pages Genre: Thriller Publisher: Top Reads Publishing Release date: Mar 2023 Formats Available for Review: print-softback (USA), and ebook (MOBI FILE (FOR KINDLE), EPUB, PDF). Tour dates: Mar 14 to Apr 3, 2023 Content Rating: PG-13 for some bad language
“Fade to Blue kicks off with shocking twists and attention-grabbing characters. The ongoing discussions between cat and mouse are tense, especially as the lines between terrorists and anti-terrorists working undercover become blurred. The stakes are high but also personal—Marcel’s monologues, while not likely realistic, are a lot of fun. Filled with vivid characters and a fast moving plot, Scheer has written a winning page-turner.”-BookLife, Editor’s Pick
“Hank Scheer’s debut novel offers readers an engaging medical mystery, after which the plot becomes a swiftly paced thriller. Sarah is a capable and appealing protagonist, and a canny plot twist gives the narrative geopolitical heft and spurs interest in what might happen next.”– Kirkus Reviews
“The secondary cast is vibrant and varied; their personalities are distinctive, and their conversations have a charming effect. Sarah’s combative exchanges with René, a French inspector whose penchant for sarcasm matches hers, add particular color. And the well-described settings further flesh out and ground the otherwise dizzying, swift-moving story. Working toward an open-ended but triumphant conclusion, Fade to Blue is an exciting thriller in which a scientist tries to stay alive after creating a brain-destroying drug that others want.”– Foreword Clarion Reviews
“The strong characters, fast-paced action, and ethical dilemmas create thought-provoking reading suitable for book club discussion, contrasting nicely with other standout medical thriller genre reads.”– Midwest Book Review
Book Description:
Will Dr. Brenalen’s unauthorized experiment lead to a cure for Alzheimer’s, or will it be used for bioterrorism?
Biotech researcher Sarah Brenalen is frustrated by her boss’s dismissal of her controversial theory, so she secretly injects lab mice with experimental Alzheimer’s drugs of her own design. Sarah is stunned when one of her experiments goes horribly wrong. But Marcel and his international cabal are intrigued. Sarah’s brain-destroying T-3 formulation could be just what they need.
Fade to Blue is a high-tech, fast-paced, cat-and-mouse game played for keeps. What Marcel didn’t count on is that two can play this game.
Hank Scheer’s writing journey began during a work break when a coworker said, “Hey, let’s write a short story.” They were working for a steel mill in Pittsburg, California, so brainstorming ideas became a fun way to pass the time.
At one point the following week, after the manufacturing process caused a computer to crash, Hank had his idea: an evil scientist creates a drug that destroys a person’s brain.
Now it was a simple matter of plotting the story and writing it. Fade to Blue is the result of three trips to Paris, France, and long weekends spent driving around the San Francisco Bay area.
It doesn’t involve steelmaking, but the science is just as real and the potential for trouble exponentially more terrifying.
Hank is now retired and lives in Martinez, California. He enjoys writing and recording music, world travel, biking, downhill skiing, and supporting other working people fighting for a better world.
I first saw The Scorned by David Putnam in a tour. His name was familiar, but when I saw this cover, I was determined to do everything I could to win the giveaway. Karma was on my side, and I won the fabulous package below.
I know I am starting this out of order, but The Scorned by David Putnam is his latest release, so I am going to share that one first. As you can tell, I don’t have all of the other nine, but the main thing is….I have The Disposables, Book I, that I will be reading next.
First off, The Scorned by David Putnam is Book 10 and I have not read the previous books. The more I read of The Scorned, the more hooked I became and I will be going back to the beginning, The Disposables.
In the opening pages, David Putnam describes something that I find true, living in a tropical climate:
The humidity so thick words hung suspended a moment longer before dissipating.
I love the whole ex-cop, ex-con concept. Books that deal with trafficking in women and children hit home for me. I want to know the villains will get their comeuppance, at least in fiction. All too often, in reality, that does not happen. It does cause all my emotions to come into play.
Bruno Johnson and his bud, Karl Drago will face the villains…head on, raining hell down on them. I felt I knew Bruno, but Karl…it was a pleasure watching him grow and develop into a more complete individual. I would definitely want him on my side…and his crusty dog too.
The characters, even the good ones, do not walk the straight and narrow. Sometimes, to make things right, stepping outside the law is the only answer. Other times, we don’t always have the full story, so rushing to judgment can have you eating crow.
Most of the time, this action packed thriller was full of horrendous happenings, drugged and trafficked women, stolen babies, and meth heads. Other times, the good guys confront them, holding them accountable for their actions, showing no mercy and occasionally, even having some light hearted moments.
The more I read of The Scorned, the more it drew me in, feeling anger and fear, wondering how it will all end and if all my ‘friends’ will remain standing. I missed learning how the characters came to be in the situations we find them in…on the run, evading the law, forced to leave the United States and relocate to Costa Rica, though David Putnam did address it, filling in some of the blanks.
The children…the amazing actions taken to save any and all….
In the beginning, the story had an old time feel to it, the writing style making we wonder if the Bruno Johnson series was really for me. I kept at it and lost myself. I can hardly wait to go back to the beginning, The Disposables, and find out how it all started.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of The Scorned by David Putnam.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Ex-cop, ex-con Bruno Johnson stumbles into a criminal organization that exploits women and children—he must fight his way out and home
Bruno Johnson is hiding out from the U.S. law in Costa Rica with his pregnant wife, Marie, and the ten kids they rescued from toxic homes in South Central Los Angeles. When Marie encounters a difficult labor and delivery, their good friend Dr. Vargas rescues both her and Bruno’s infant son. So Bruno feels indebted when asked to escort his daughter Layla, a college student in Los Angeles, back home to Costa Rica.
When Bruno arrives in Los Angeles, he finds the problem with Layla is complicated and dire. Layla has fallen in with Johnny, the leader of a vast and notorious criminal empire that exploits women and children. She says she’s had his child and that he has taken the baby.
Bruno enlists the help of his old friend Karl Drago—and his dog, Waldo—to aid in his search for Layla’s baby—a baby her parents disavow. Bruno soon discovers things aren’t as they appear, but he will stop at nothing to save the innocent baby and return to his family and newborn son in Costa Rica—providing he can evade capture while on U.S. soil.
Perfect for fans of Michael Connelly and David Baldacci
While all of the novels in the Bruno Johnson Crime Series stand on their own and can be read in any order, the publication sequence is:
The Disposables The Replacements The Squandered The Vanquished The Innocents The Reckless The Heartless The Ruthless The Sinister The Scorned The Diabolical (coming 2024)
Thriller, Mystery, Internations, Suspense
352 pages, Hardcover
Published February 7, 2023
ABOUT DAVID PUTNAM
Best-selling author David Putnam comes from a family of law enforcement. During his career, he did it all: worked in narcotics, served on FBI-sponsored violent crimes teams, and was cross-sworn as a US Marshall, pursuing murder suspects and bank robbers in Arizona, Nevada, and California. Putnam did two tours on the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s SWAT team. He also has experience in criminal intelligence and internal affairs and has supervised corrections, patrol, and a detective bureau. In Hawaii, Putnam was a member of the real-life Hawaii Five O, serving as Special Agent for the Attorney General investigating smuggling and white-collar crimes.
Putnam lives in Southern California with his wife, Mary.
Book Title: The Registration (a Novel) byMadison Lawson Category: Adult Fiction (18 +), 320 pages Genre: Thriller Publisher: CamCat Books Release date: September 2022 Content Rating: PG-13 + M. There is violence, including a torture scene, and some language, as well as mention of domestic violence, abuse, murder, and abortions.
Book Description:
You can’t outrun the Registration.
Imagine it’s legal to commit one murder in your lifetime⎯if you Register the victim and accomplish the kill within fourteen days. So when Lynell Mize stands in line to Register the man who abused her as a child, she’s shocked to hear a stranger Register her to be killed. Why would anyone who doesn’t know her squander his one legal murder on her? Desperate to survive the next two weeks, she must find out who wants to kill her⎯and why.
Easier said than done as Lynell soon discovers that multiple strangers have used their Registration on her. Along the way, she reunites with her estranged husband who is determined to dig up a past Lynell prefers to keep buried. With only days left to live, Lynell fights to uncover the truth and survive a destiny not of her choosing.
Author Madison Lawson writes speculative fiction novels full of suspense, social commentary, and complex relationships. She has published a dozen short stories, many of which won awards such as the Koresh Award and the Gordone Award. She received her B.A. in English from Texas A&M University and is currently earning her M.A. in English at North Carolina State University. Born and raised in a small Texas town, Madison began escaping through reading and writing as soon as she could.
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I am intrigued by the amazing cover, the great title and the mystery within Poisoned Lily by Nik Grybaski. The story is okay and a quick read, 72 pages. Be prepared to be transported to the past in this historical mystery. The treatment of the dead woman could be happening in real time, seeing she is unimportant to some and deserving of an investigation to others.
Leo Katz, a photographer, and Klaus Rosnbloom, a pathologist, stumble onto each other, working together to help the police solve the crime. This is a quick, yet enjoyable read that some may like more than I.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Poisoned Lily by Nik Grybaski.
2 Stars
AMAZON SYNOPSIS
Was Lily murdered, or did her sinister secret force her to take her own life?
In a room above a tavern, on the hedonistic streets of Praterstrasse Vienna, is the dead body of a kept woman.
A mysterious lady sits alone in the bar. A man exits the premises through the back door, gripping onto a cane with an amber head. A youth, clutching a bottle, stumbles down the stairs and drinks the remnants of the poison his dead lover, Lily, took just minutes before.
Was it suicide?
It’s up to photographer Leo Katz and his new friend, pathologist Klaus Rosenbloom, to solve the mystery. But how can they discover who the killer is when vicious thugs steal vital evidence and threaten their lives?
Grab you copy of this thrilling murder mystery now!
ABOUT NIK GRYBASKI
Nik Grybaski is neither real nor imaginary, existing solely in the shadows of the worlds Nik creates.
Nik is responsible for creating Leo Katz and the things that Leo gets up to when Nik is asleep.
A dabbler at most things useless but creative, Nik writes to forget…Nik has already forgotten.
Ed Earl Burch, a cashiered Dallas murder cop, is a private detective facing the relentless onslaught of age, bad choices, guilt and regret. Smart, tough, profane and reckless, he’s a survivor who relies on his own guts and savvy and expects no help or salvation from anybody.
But he’s also a man who longs for the sense of higher calling he felt when he carried a homicide detective’s gold shield. He seeks redemption and a chance to make amends to a dying old woman he abandoned decades ago when she needed him most.
When he sees her again, she has the same request — save her granddaughter from the vicious outlaws on her trail and bring her home for a final goodbye. Easier said than done because the granddaughter is a hardened hustler and gunrunner, hellbent on avenging a lover who got chopped up and stuffed into a barbecue smoker by cartel gunsels and a rival smuggler.
To fulfill the old woman’s last request, Burch heads back to the borderlands of West Texas on a mercy mission that plunges him into a violent world of smugglers, cartel killers, crooked lawmen, Bible-thumping hucksters, anti-government extremists and an old nemesis who wants to see him dead.
The odds are long and Burch has his doubts — about himself, the granddaughter, old friends and the elusive nature of grace from guilt. Truth be told, doubt is the only thing he’s dead certain of.
Grace Or A Desert Grave?
Praise for The Dead Certain Doubt:
“Gritty and tough with enough despicable West Texas hombres to fill a tour bus.” ~ Bruce Robert Coffin, award-winning author of the Detective Byron mysteries
“Rough days and harsh nights seem like paradise before it’s all over….” ~ Rod Davis, author of the Southern noir novels, South, America and East of Texas, West of Hell
“A no-holds-barred mission of revenge, redemption and righting wrong from the past….” ~ R.G. Belsky, author of the Clare Carlson mysteries
“The pace is swift, the action is raw and the characters are intense and visual.” ~ Carmen Amato, author of the Emilia Cruz and Galliano Club mystery series
“Ed Earl Burch will guide you through the last arroyo with wit, truly memorable dialogue and locations you’d like to visit…with a gun.” ~ John William Davis, author of Rainy Street Stories and Around the Corner
“The Dead Certain Doubt is a thrilling, lightning-paced, ferocious crime novel. Highly recommended!” ~ Rich Zahradnik, author of The Bone Records and Lights Out Summer, winner of the 2018 Shamus Award for Best Paperback Private Eye Novel
Book Details:
Genre: Hard-Boiled Crime Thriller Published by: Spotted Mule Press Publication Date: March 2023 Number of Pages: 260 ISBN: 978-0-9983294-5-1 Book Links:Amazon
Read an excerpt:
Seven
Watch your six, Sport Model.
A dead partner’s whispered warning. A triggered twitch of muscle memory and street cop reflexes. The split-second dive to the right. The graceless tuck and shoulder roll that slams and skids your ass across the greasy linoleum floor of a roadside tienda.
Left hand full of a Colt’s cold comfort. Hammer back. Eight Fat Boys in the mag. One in the pipe. Hardball .45 ACP and Flying Ashtrays. Find the source of that buckshot blast meant to blow your head into red mist, skull fragments, hair and brain matter.
Ignore the screams, shouts, clumping footfalls and Dios Mios of customers and clerks exiting rapido to safety. Smell the cordite but pay it no mind.
Ignore all that shattered bottle glass and the ketchup, mustard, mayo, salsa picante and salsa verde splattered across the floor, your jeans, your belt buckle and your best Nocona boots. A swirling mess of red, green, white and yellow that just doesn’t matter.
Find that shooter. Listen for the telltale shing-shing pumping more buckshot into the chamber. Pray he’s old school. Pray the shotgun isn’t a semi-automatic with the next round already in the pipe.
Shing-shing.
Answered prayer. The sound rises from the next aisle to his front left. The Colt tracks the echo, sights panning across the shelves facing him. Jarritos, Jumex, Sidral Mundet, Big Red, 7 Up. Spam, Underwood Deviled Ham, Starkist. Valvoline, Havoline, Pennzoil.<
A boot sole scrapes the linoleum. Front corner of the next aisle. Right behind the 10W30. Colt centers on the sound. Front blade splits a quart of Havoline. Blast five shots. A grunt, a groan and the clatter of dropped gun metal. Ears ring.
Quick crab crawl to the opposite corner.
Sneak a peek. Shooter on his knees. One hand covers his bloody gut. The other reaches for his pump shotgun.
Fuck you, old school. Three more blasts from the Colt. Squeeze the trigger like a lover until the slide locks back and smoke curls from the breech. One round cores a Third Eye in the shooter’s forehead.
Quema tu culo en el infierno, pendejo. No last rites. No absolution. Straight to the flames. Spit a sour green ball of phlegm on the floor.
Shuck the empty mag. Slap home a fresh one. Trip the slide. Shake out a Lucky and stick it on a dry lip.
Light the nail with a Zippo and a shaky hand. Drag the smoke down deep to smother the stench of gunsmoke and blood. Dial 911 on the black rotary phone next to the cash register and wait for the gaudy post-mortem show to start. No popcorn.
Give thanks to the whiskey gods you survived another gunfight. Thank those old reflexes, too. They’re the second cousins of doubt — the only thing you’re dead certain of.
*** *** *** ***
Dealer’s choice. Jacks or better to open. Check, raise, bluff or call in a round of liar’s poker with a lawdog Burch knew but hadn’t seen in almost a decade. Didn’t know if he could trust the man who held all the high cards. And the badge. Best to play it close to the vest.
“I see you still worship at the Church of John Browning. Bet you still follow the lessons they taught you at the Hollow-Point Charm School.”
Raise with a bluff and smartass bluster.
“Dance with who brung ya, Sheriff. And not much charm to this deal. Just a shitload of lead. Muchacho there tried to make me a headless horseman with some double-ought. I begged to differ and let Brother John’s best do my talking for me.”
“Old gun.” Call.
“Old man shootin’ it. Only gun I can hit anything with.” Re-raise.
“And you had to come all the way out to my county to prove you still could. Why the hell is that?”
Burch smiled but didn’t answer. A quiet fold. The sheriff was deeply annoyed but wasn’t ready to throw him in a jail cell. Yet.
Burch stood about five feet away from the shooter’s corpse, dripping ketchup, mustard and salsa on the tienda linoleum. Half-assed trying not to fuck up the sheriff’s crime scene while smoking another Lucky pacifier.
His eyes scanned the body, sprawled face first in a dark, spreading pool, left arm flexed out like it was plowing a path for a body that would never follow.
His brain automatically picked out and filed the details. Once a murder cop, always a murder cop. Gold badge or not.
Detail: The last hollow-point he fired blew out the back of the man’s skull. Filed.
Detail: A scorpion tattoo on the left forearm. Black ink only. Lines still sharp. Filed.
Detail: Shooter’s gun a Remington 870 pump. Twelve gauge with a sawed-off barrel. Common as rocks and sand in West Texas. Filed.
He studied the left side of the man’s face, the side that wasn’t marinating in blood and brain pulp.
Detail: Smooth bronze skin, left eye showing the eight-ball bulge. Detail: Lips locked back over a pearly white grimace. Silver cuff on the left earlobe. Maricón? Maybe.
Details and question filed. Nothing rose from his memory banks. Noted and filed.
His eyes returned to the gaping hole in the back of the man’s skull.
Gotta love them Flying Ashtrays. Did damage to a man. Hardball knocked him down and hollow-point chewed up his innards and cored out his skull. The Big Adios. One-way ticket. Paid in full.
The sheriff squatted on his boot heels near the dead man’s right hip, using the eraser end of a pencil to lift the bloody tail of a denim shirt to study an exit wound. A muttered oath. English or Spanish. Burch couldn’t tell.
More muttering. A wallet fished out of a back pocket with a hand gloved in latex. A glance at the driver’s license. A quick riffle through a thick sheaf of greenbacks.
Detail: Helluva lot of lettuce in that wallet. More than your average greaseball carries. Noted and filed.
Sheriff Sudden Doggett gave one shake of the head then pinned Burch with dark, angry eyes framed by the underside of a faded, stained and dented Resistol that might have been dark gray in its younger days.
“Why the fuck is it every time you cross the Cuervo County line you have to announce your presence by painting the walls red?”
“Only the second time I’ve visited your fair jurisdiction, Sheriff. And the first time was a few years back. Seven or was it eight?”
“Not long enough if you ask me. Why can’t you be like every other tourist passing through and keep trucking over the river for some bad tequila and cheap pussy?”
“Because I’m on a job. Was on my way to see you when this happened.”
“Well, fuck me runnin’. Worst news I’ve had all day. Fuckin’ angel of death is what you are. And my morgue’s already full. Last thing I need is another gun hand racking up body count.”
“Startin’ to sound like your old boss.”
“You can just take that talk and jam it straight up your ass, pendejo. Go clean yourself up some. You look like Ronald McDonald with that shit smeared all over you.”
“Good to see you again, too, Sheriff.”
“Bite my ass, Burch.”
Risky to poke a stick at Doggett with the thin hand he held. Might wind up in a jail cell for his trouble. But the reaction he got was worth it – genuine pissoff with no hesitation or trace of guilt. Told him he just might be dealing with a straight shooter. Hope so. We’ll see.
The lawman kept his eyes locked on Burch as he barked an order.
“Get this fuckhead out of my face before I run him in lookin’ just like the clown he is. Take him out back. Ruby’s got a garden hose out there. Let him use it and get cleaned up while I check out this mess. Leave his Colt on the counter.”
A blade-faced deputy with acne scars and the flattened nose of a bad boxer stepped up and grabbed him by the elbow. Burch shook his arm free, gave him a glare and walked toward the back door of the store.
Anger flushed out the shakes. He felt better, but not great. As good as it gets after killing a man.
***
Excerpt from The Dead Certain Doubt by Jim Nesbitt. Copyright 2023 by Jim Nesbitt. Reproduced with permission from Jim Nesbitt. All rights reserved.
Author Bio:
Jim Nesbitt is the award-winning author of four hard-boiled Texas crime thrillers that feature battered but relentless Dallas PI Ed Earl Burch — THE LAST SECOND CHANCE, a Silver Falchion finalist; THE RIGHT WRONG NUMBER, an Underground Book Reviews “Top Pick”; and, his latest, THE BEST LOUSY CHOICE, winner of the best crime fiction category of the 2020 Independent Press Book Awards, the 2020 Silver Falchion award for best action and adventure novel from the Killer Nashville crime fiction conference and bronze medal winner in the best mystery/thriller e-book category of the 2020 Independent Publisher Book Awards. His latest book is THE DEAD CERTAIN DOUBT, which was released in early March. Nesbitt was a journalist for more than 30 years, serving as a reporter, editor and roving national correspondent for newspapers and wire services in Alabama, Florida, Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Washington, D.C. He chased hurricanes, earthquakes, plane wrecks, presidential candidates, wildfires, rodeo cowboys, migrant field hands, neo-Nazis and nuns with an eye for the telling detail and an ear for the voice of the people who give life to a story. His stories have appeared in newspapers across the country and in magazines such as Cigar Aficionado and American Cowboy. He is a lapsed horseman, pilot, hunter and saloon sport with a keen appreciation for old guns, vintage cars and trucks, good cigars, aged whiskey and a well-told story. Nesbitt regularly reviews crime fiction and history on his blog, The Spotted Mule, and his author web site, as well as Facebook, Amazon and Goodreads. He now lives in Athens, Alabama.
I gave The Girl Who Crossed The Line by Tikiri Herath two stars and let me tell you why. Disappointment. Everything about the prequel intrigued me. From the cover to the blurb, I was drawn in. BUT, the prequel was only half the book, ending in a cliffhanger. The other half, chapters of Book I, The Girl Who Ran Away…and that, of course, left me wanting more. Soooo, I was miffed. I wouldn’t waste my time with this one. If it sounds like one for you, go for Book I, The Girl Who Ran Away.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy The Girl Who Crossed The Line by Tikiri Herath.
2 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
A reckless girl. A grave mistake. A fateful destiny.
She’s the underdog everyone loves to hate….
…then she commits a crime.
Young Asha is the outsider, the girl everyone loves to hate at school.
One day, she does the unspeakable in a desperate bid to keep a friendship.
But she doesn’t realize her misdeed has got the attention of a ruthless and powerful man who rules the dark underworld of human trafficking.
Will he let her get away with it?
Or will he entrap her too?
One thing is for sure. Asha’s grave mistake will haunt her for the rest of her life. Did you like Lisbeth Salander from The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo? Then, you’ll love Asha from the Red Heeled Rebels.
Begin a wild ride around the world without getting a passport or even buying an airline ticket. Get it now.
The Girl Who Crossed the Line is the prequel story to the addictive Red Heeled Rebels psychological suspense series.
*This book was formerly titled Shattered / Beginnings.
If you enjoy gripping psychological thrillers with flawed but gutsy heroines, vigilante action in exotic locales and twists that get your pulse pounding, you’ll love these books by multiple award-winning Canadian novelist, Tikiri Herath.
Tikiri Herath is the multiple award-winning author of international mystery and thriller novels.
Tikiri has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Victoria, Canada, and a master’s degree from the Solvay Business School in Brussels, Belgium. For almost two decades, she worked in the intelligence and defense sectors, including in the Canadian Federal Government and at NATO in Europe and North America.
Tikiri’s an adrenaline junkie who has rock climbed, bungee jumped, rode on the back of a motorcycle across Quebec, flown in an acrobatic airplane upside down, and parachuted solo.
When she’s not plotting another thriller scene or planning an adrenaline-filled trip, you’ll find her baking in her kitchen with a glass of red Shiraz and vintage jazz playing in the background.
Born in Sri Lanka, Tikiri grew up in East Africa and has studied, worked, and lived in Southeast Asia, continental Europe, and North America through her adult life.
An international nomad and fifth-culture kid, she now calls Canada home.
“We’re back in Guatemala.” “When we get out this time, I’m going to bag it too.”
But they waited one trip too long and Murphy’s life as a pilot flying marijuana from Guatemala to the States is over.
I’m not going into everything that is in the blurb, but I do remember hearing a lot about the CIA, the cartels, corrupt politicians…on both sides…those with their own agendas. To me, everything about the ‘drug wars’ and the way our government handles it is all wrong. A book like House Of Jaguar gets my emotions roiled. The tragic circumstances of the poor and those who get in the way, makes my heart break for them.
“For two years I do not see a track. Then since you came this one’s been near. He’s very rare, a black one…Tonight after the ceremony I go and call him. Then we’ll have money for more seeds – black skins are the most valuable.”
In tragic, dangerous circumstances, there are those who open their hearts, putting their own lives on the line to help others. Dona is one of those characters and Murphy has the misfortune (?) to fall in love with her. How can it be a happy ever after?
He knows too much and tries to tell the world what is being done to the Guatemalans. It is unfortunate that no one seems to care enough to do anything about it, other than hunt him down and shut him up. He is naive to think the things he does won’t end in a bad way. Lives will be lost, but he cannot help himself. He wants her. He wants to make a difference. He wants to be a good guy. He wants to make a difference.
They kill their own. Psycopaths are turned loose on the innocent. Men turn into animals. The savage violence turns my stomach, pisses me off to no end. Why? What makes them think they are more valuable to the world than the next person? Sometimes I think, do unto others should be done unto them. You reap what you sow. You take a life, you have to give one…yours!
Violence, tragedy, intensity, emotions…The author has lived them and it shows in the story he tells. I don’t read books like House Of Jaguar too often any more. They make me soooo angry, frustrated and disturbed because it seems like we, as a people, never learn and history does repeat itself…over and over again.
The ending….
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of House Of Jaguar by Mike Bond.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Shot down over the jungle with a planeload of marijuana, Vietnam War hero Joe Murphy gets caught up in the brutal Guatemalan Civil War when he witnesses an attack on a Mayan village by the Guatemalan Army and its CIA “advisors”. Badly injured, he escapes on a nightmare trek through the jungle, hunted by the Army, the CIA, and death squads.
Healed by guerrilla doctor Dona Villalobos, he falls in love with her and tries to save her from the War’s widening horror of insanity, tragedy, and death. Caught in the crucible of violence and love, he learns the peaks and depths the human heart can reach, and what humans will do for, and to,each other.
Based on the author’s own experiences as one of the last foreign correspondents left alive in Guatemala after over 100 journalists had been killed by Army death squads.
This interview with Mike Bond lasts for 30+ minutes.
ABOUT MIKE BOND
MIKE BOND has been called the “master of the existential thriller” by the BBC and “one of the 21st century’s most exciting authors” by the Washington Times. He is a bestselling novelist, environmental activist, international energy expert, war and human rights correspondent and award-winning poet who has lived and worked in many remote and dangerous parts of the world. His critically acclaimed novels depict the innate hunger of the human heart for what is good, the intense joys of love, the terror and fury of battle, the sinister vagaries of international politics and multinational corporations, and the beauty of the vanishing natural world.
We’re so excited to share that Ivy Love’s Vanished, the fourth in her Quinn Winters series, is now available! Check it out and be sure to get your copy today!
Title: Vanished
Author: Ivy Love
Genre: Romantic Suspense
About Vanished:
Agent Quinn Winters and her team are moving forward and putting the past behind them.Relationships are being repaired.Trust is being regained.The team is finally starting to feel cohesive again and the addition of Agent Carter has a lot to do with it.One year has passed since Carter Hayes has become an Agent. He completed his training and immediately started working with the team. During this time, the team has only been called into the field once, to assist with the recovery of a missing child. It doesn’t mean they haven’t been busy, the amount of cases the team has been handling from their homebase grows every day.To add to their workload, once Agent Carter became a full-fledged member, he filled them in on what brought him to the team in the first place. Once the team heard his story, they knew they had to help. In addition to their regular workload, the team began searching for clues and monitoring patterns, while Agent Carter continued to perfect his craft.It hasn’t been easy and they’re nowhere close to unraveling the network of killers, but Agent Quinn Winters and her team aren’t giving up.When two children disappear without a trace, within days of each other, they know they need to act quickly.What they find… will change everything they thought they knew.
I’m a lover of reading, writing, high heels and animals.When I’m not writing, I’m working in the legal field or playing with my five, yes, five rescue dogs. When I was in grade school, I was your classic nerd. I spent more time reading books “above my grade level” and getting lost in them, instead of paying attention to the people around me. I loved the journey each book would take me on. I still do. When I was thirteen I picked up a pencil and wrote my first hundred page story. It was the moment I realized I could not only lose myself in books, but in my own words. That was the moment I fell in love with writing.I write because I have to. I have stories to tell and want to share them with all of you.
Book Title: Fool Her Once (A Novel) by Joanna Elm Category: Adult Fiction (18 +), 416 pages Genre: Thriller Publisher: CamCat Books Release date: Feb, 2023 Content Rating: PG-13 + M. There’s adultery, language, some sexual content, and violent crime, but no explicit descriptions of the crimes.
MY REVIEW
I love the great cover for Fool Her Once and it fits the story. The dark and eerie cover fits the description of the characters inside. It seems they all have secrets they want kept.
Jenna Sinclair’s life is a convoluted mess. Jenna bounces between two men. She does have a knack for tracking people down and now that her past seems to be knocking at her door, she will have to find the answers for herself.
When Ryan is attacked outside her building, she believes that Denny Dennison’s son has come to make her pay for outing him and ruining his life. But, Jenna and Ryan had recently done an expose on restaurants, so the list of suspects is long. I do believe Joanna Elm threw a red herring my way, diverting me from a line of questioning that may have revealed the true villain before she gave me the answer.
She had outed a serial killer’s son, and now she thinks he has come back for revenge. Can killer genes be inherited, making someone evil? Can the children of serial killers become serial killers themselves? Bad genes, bad seeds?
She is married to Zack and has a daughter by him. Dollie sides with her father, but with an absentee mother, always at work in the city, that makes sense.
My thoughts were right and wrong at the same time. How wonderful for the story. What a great twist. I know the truth, but Jenna does not and does her own research, leaving no stone unturned. As the truth unfolds, I can’t help but smile. I love when I don’t have all the answers for myself and need some assistance from the author.
As I am nearing the end, my feelings for Jenna change. I am thinking she is an idiot. I can’t explain more, but I felt I gave her too much credit, believing she was clever, would find the answers and make the right choice.
Then, Jenna and Joanna Elm redeemed themselves in a big way. I guess we humans see what we want to see, trying to make the best of a bad situation. I wonder what you would think?
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Fool Her Once by Joanna Elm.
4 Stars
Book Description: Some killers are born. Others are made.
As a rookie tabloid reporter, Jenna Sinclair made a tragic mistake when she outed Denny Dennison, the illegitimate son of an executed serial killer. So she hid behind her marriage and motherhood. Now, decades later, betrayed by her husband and resented by her teenage daughter, Jenna decides to resurrect her career—and returns to the city she loves.
When her former lover is brutally assaulted outside Jenna’s NYC apartment building, Jenna suspects that Denny has inherited his father’s psychopath gene and is out for revenge. She knows she must track him down before he can harm his next target, her daughter.
Meanwhile, her estranged husband, Zack, fears that her investigative reporting skills will unearth his own devastating secret he’d kept buried in the past.
From New York City to the remote North Fork of Long Island and the murky waters surrounding it, Jenna rushes to uncover the terrible truth about a psychopath and realizes her own investigation may save or destroy her family.
Joanna Elm is an author, journalist, blogger, and attorney. Before the publication of her first two suspense novels (Scandal, Tor/Forge 1996); (Delusion, Tor/Forge/1997), she was an investigative journalist on the London Evening News on Fleet Street in the U.K. She also wrote for British magazines like Woman’s Own.
Then, she moved to New York where she worked as a writer/producer for television news and tabloid TV programs like “A Current Affair.” She was also the researcher/writer for WNEW-TV’s Emmy-award-winning documentary “Irish Eyes.” In 1980, she joined the Star as a reporter, eventually becoming the magazine’s news editor and managing editor before moving to Philadelphia as editor of the news/features section of TV Guide.
After completing her first two novels while living in South Florida, (Nelson DeMille described Scandal as “fresh, original and unpredictable”) Joanna returned to New York, enrolled in law school, graduated summa cum laude, passed the NY Bar exam, and worked as a principal law clerk for an appellate division justice in the prestigious First Department. She has been married to her husband Joe for 35 years and has one son.
