Thursday, April 23, 2015

Interview with Chris Karlsen, Author of Silk


Chris is a Chicago native. Her family moved to Los Angeles when she was in her late teens where she later studied at UCLA. She graduated with a Business Degree. Her father was a history professor and her mother a voracious reader. She grew up with a love of history and books.

Her parents were also passionate about traveling and passed their passion onto Chris. Once bitten with the travel bug, Chris spent most of her adult life visiting the places she'd read about and that fascinated her. She's had the good fortune to travel Europe extensively, the Near East, and North Africa, in addition to most of the United States.

After college, Chris spent the next twenty-five years in law enforcement with two agencies. Harboring a strong desire to write since her teens, upon retiring from police work, Chris decided to pursue her writing career. She currently writes three different series. Her historical romance series is called, Knights in Time. Her romantic thriller series is Dangerous Waters, and he latest book, Silk, is book one in her mystery/suspense series, The Bloodstone series.

She currently lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and five wild and crazy rescue dogs.

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Did you like thrillers and suspense novels when you were growing up?

Yes, I read and still read a variety of genres.

What was the first story in that genre that you wrote?

Silk is the first true thriller/suspense. I have two books that are romantic thrillers but Silk is not a romance of any kind.

What is your favorite part of writing in this genre?

I really enjoyed writing the protagonist. I knew everything about him before I typed a word. I had fun building his world. I also enjoyed getting into the mind of the killer and seeing things from his POV.

What do you find most difficult about writing in this genre?

It wasn't so much writing the genre as writing an investigation in this time period (Victorian London). I had to have my detective solve the murders without the benefit of forensic science. This was just before fingerprint analysis even.

Is there an author in this genre that you admire most?

Yes, Michael Connelly. I love his Harry Bosch.

What is up next for you?

Right now, I'm working on book 4 in my Knights in Time series. Those are historical romances. Then, I'm starting book two in the Bloodstone Silk is from.

Do you have anything to add?

There are several excellent thriller/suspense writers I admire. I didn't want to write a contemporary investigator though. I like writing different time periods and thought Victorian London had a great atmosphere for a classic suspense. I look forward to doing more. It's a fun period for this genre.


London-Fall, 1888

The city is in a panic as Jack the Ripper continues his murderous spree. While the Whitechapel police struggle to find him, Detective Inspector Rudyard Bloodstone and his partner are working feverishly to find their own serial killer. The British Museum's beautiful gardens have become a killing ground for young women strangled as they stroll through.

Their investigation has them brushing up against Viscount Everhard, a powerful member of the House of Lords, and a friend to Queen Victoria. When the circumstantial evidence points to him as a suspect, Rudyard must deal with the political blowback, and knows if they are going to go after the viscount, they'd better be right and have proof.

As the body count grows and the public clamor for the detectives to do more, inter-department rivalries complicate the already difficult case.

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Monday, April 20, 2015

Kindle Freebie: Mash Up by Joe Klingler


“Cleverly designed, Mash Up is the perfect detective read, as well as a classic addition to the noir genre.”—San Francisco Book Review (5 of 5 Stars)

Disturbed by the death of a suspect in a recent case he feels was the result of his own failure to unravel a high-tech crime; Qigiq, Fairbanks detective, motorcyclist and knife-thrower, heads south to partner with the energetic, action-loving Kandy Dreeson of the San Francisco Police Department to be schooled on all things digital.

But when Robina, a violinist from a local college, arrives at the police station with body parts in an Amazon box screaming about her missing roommate, Kandy and Qigiq are soon drowning in a torrent of cyber-clues from YouTube videos to disappearing music files while dodging threats to their lives. With each bit they decipher they grow ever closer to the dangerous forces that would trade money for murder, and secrecy for seduction.

High-speed chase suspenseful, exploding with power-struggle intrigue, and awash in Silicon Valley “innovation,” Mash Up captures the enchantment of the Internet Age, and the deadly power of a file copy.

“Klingler is skilled at writing action scenes. He puts the reader directly in the line of fire, and he doesn’t let up…Anyone interested in thrillers or police procedurals will find much to appreciate in this newest Qigiq installment.”—Foreword Clarion Reviews (4 Star ****)


File Size: 1343 KB
Print Length: 601 pages
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Publisher: Cartosi LLC; 1 edition (January 25, 2014)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Language: English
ASIN: B00I2E19Q0


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Friday, April 17, 2015

Bargain E-Book: A Spirited Tail by Leighann Dobbs


Middle-aged bookstore owner Willa Chance is looking forward to the opportunity of appraising a valuable private library that hasn't seen the light of day for fifty years ... until she finds a dead body in the backyard and the ghost of the home's previous owner anxiously waiting for her inside.

Hampered by the persistent ghost who insists on keeping secrets from her, Willa navigates a sea of confusing clues as she struggles to uncover the connection between the recent murder and two murders fifty years ago.

Is the answer contained in the secret she found in the library? Or the unusual bequest left by the long-dead owner of the house? Or maybe it has something to do with the mysterious journal that everyone seems to be after.

Once again, Willa's cat Pandora has to help her figure out the clues, while she and the other cats of Mystic Notch try to keep vital mystical knowledge from getting into the wrong hands.

Can Willa discover the identity of the killer in time or will she end up being the fourth victim?

File Size: 1516 KB
Print Length: 354 pages
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Language: English
ASIN: B00MAXJZZ6


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Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Bargain E-Book: The Library by Carmen Desousa


When Mark Waters decided to be a detective, he didn't plan to investigate ghosts.

As he sifts through evidence of a supposed suicide by train, though, he learns a murder that took place eighty years ago may directly affect his case.

Six months after the strange occurrences at The Depot, there’s another murder. This time, The Library holds secrets of several murders, and the dead won’t rest until the murderer checks out too.

Note: The Library (Where Life Checks Out) is a 50k-word follow-up novel to The Depot (When Life and Death Cross Tracks), which is included in this special edition so readers who haven't read The Depot won't miss anything. The first edition was published December 2013. While there have been a few updates, this is the original story. Happy reading!

File Size: 1444 KB
Print Length: 262 pages
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Language: English
ASIN: B00MJCMVIQ


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Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Book Spotlight: October Snow by Jenna Brooks


Josie Kane is a "difficult" woman, a pure enigma - one who survives her abusive husband by honing her unnerving talent for playing mind games: she knows exactly how to manipulate a bully.

Finally divorced, she thinks the abuse is over, and she's free. She's wrong. And her cynicism is building.

Josie works with battered women, trying to rescue them from a fate similar to hers. But on the night that yet another battered woman is murdered by her husband, pining for a hero as she dies in Josie's arms, her cynicism becomes a quiet, simmering hatred.

Her one remaining refuge is in her bond with Maxine and Samantha, the two friends whom she loves like sisters. When Samantha becomes pregnant by Jack - an abuser who makes known his intentions to use the baby as a weapon of control - Josie's hatred ripens to a vengeful fury.

She sets out to take on one more batterer, manipulate one more bully... And she lures Jack into the crosshairs of the ultimate mind game.

Her friends are convinced that she intends to rid Samantha of Jack. They're right.

But with Josie Kane, as always, there's a twist.

With her friends helpless to stop her - and with Samantha hanging in the balance - Josie squares off with Jack in a life-and-death, winner-lose-all battle of wits to determine which side will win Sammy's future.

And this time, there will be a hero.

File Size: 611 KB
Print Length: 384 pages
Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1479234826
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (April 29, 2013)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Language: English
ASIN: B00ANW1J00

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