Book Promo ~ Death by Chaos

Distinctive Female Characters Propel Engaging
Murder Mystery, Death by Chaos

 They are the undisputed “goddesses” of their Southern California liberal arts college. The four women met as randomly assigned roommates, and despite their diverse backgrounds and interests, they have a bond that will last for decades. Tasha is the flirty theater arts major; Elizabeth, gifted with classic beauty and intelligence, majors in pre-law; Dawn is the intuitive daughter of a single Navajo mother, and an outstanding psychology student; and Miranda is an athletic, ultra-liberal journalism major. With distinct talents and trajectories, each young woman seems destined for a Charmed Life. But just before graduation, a student is found murdered. Suspicion falls in their midst, and destinies are changed forever.  

Death by Chaos is a clever, entertaining mystery from Renaii West, with complex female characters, colorful dialogue and enough surprises to keep readers guessing.

The ensuing murder investigation threatens to derail the women’s friendship — and possibly their futures. One of the four women becomes a person of interest and goes missing. And one of them knows much more than she’s sharing.

Over the next two decades, the case remains unsolved, and three of the women enjoy success in their respective careers. But one woman is still missing, and one remains haunted by the chaos of that ill-fated night. With an upcoming reunion on the horizon, and the arrival of a stranger on a motorcycle bringing even more turmoil, the time seems right to finally revisit the past, uncover the secrets and expose the truth. There’s one major catch: there are those who wish the case to remain unsolved. Finding answers and the closure the four women so desperately need will require good acting, deception and maybe a little divine intervention.

About the Author
Death by Chaos author Renaii West is a playwright and dramatic arts educator. After earning her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Pacific Lutheran University and a Master of Arts in Communication from the United States International University, she became the dramatic arts instructor in a performing arts junior high magnet program, where she wrote and directed many of her own productions. She was also a belly-dancer for 10 years.

She wrote and produced a short film, “Eli’s Run,” which was accepted into the Oceanside Film Festival (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIeNwCAU7nk). Her passions include Greek mythology, classic films, folk and ballroom dancing, jigsaw puzzles, and of course, mysteries. West has traveled across the world, including to England, Greece, Jordan, Mexico, Israel, Poland, Russia, France, Morocco, Latvia and Estonia. She resides in San Diego, California.

For more information, please visit www.Renaiiwest.com, or connect with the author on Twitter (@RenaiiW) or Facebook (www.facebook.com/Renaiiwestauthor).

Death by Chaos
ISBN-13: 979-8692019400
Available at Amazon.com

Book Promo: Crimes and Passion

Betrayal and Infidelity Lead to
Murder in Crimes and Passion

by
Jeffrey Stephens

Elizabeth Knoebel expected her appointment that night to provide another juicy entry in her private diary, aptly entitled Sexual Rites. But a shadowy figure, watching from the edge of her property, has other plans. Instead of an evening of pleasure, Elizabeth is confronted by someone who wants to put an end to her destructive behavior — and succeeds.

Crimes and Passion is the gripping mystery-thriller from Jeffrey S. Stephens, effortlessly weaving suspense and sensuality with psychological undercurrents.

Elizabeth’s murder investigation is turned over to Lieutenant Robbie Whyte, a former New York City cop now serving on the force in affluent Fairfield County, Connecticut. Whyte understands that the appearances of the privileged gentry are often far removed from reality, and this certainly proves to be true in the case of Elizabeth Knoebel, who Whyte discovers was under the care of psychotherapist Dr. Randi Conway.

When Whyte finds Elizabeth’s diary, Sexual Rites, he uncovers explicit details of her erotic adventures with various men, many of whom may have been the husbands of the women in her therapy group. Elizabeth was a predator bent on seducing and, in some instances, humiliating these men, obsessed with a perverse mission that Whyte believes led to her murder.

The secrets of Crimes and Passion are peeled away one layer at a time as readers meet an assortment of Dr. Conway’s patients — one of whom may have been Elizabeth’s killer. With Dr. Conway unwilling to betray her patients’ confidences, Whyte’s investigation gets complicated, putting the therapist herself in more danger as Whyte gets closer to the truth, and to the doctor herself.

With a pacing that mirrors Whyte’s frantic search for the truth, Crimes and Passion keeps readers guessing as each revelation unfolds. And along the way, readers are shown glimpses into the dynamics that cause marriages to succeed, to fail or sometimes, to end in tragedy.

Crimes and Passion
Publisher: Mandevilla Press
ISBN-10: 162704051X
ISBN-13: 978-1627040518
Available from
Amazon.com

About the Author:

Jeffrey Stephens was born in New York City and graduated from the Bronx High School of Science at the age of 16; he completed a B.A. in Creative Writing from Pennsylvania State University at 19. Jeffrey began his first novel in 1970, which would not be completed for several years as he entered the Fordham University School of Law. His private legal practice has included extensive civil and criminal courtroom experience, and he has represented a wide range of celebrity clients. Nancy and Jeffrey live in Greenwich, Connecticut, where they raised two sons, Graham and Trevor.

Time and Tide Book Series (3 Book Series)

book #1

Why do people go missing? Will they be found?

First in the Time and Tide series that looks at missing people and the consequences in 5 fictional short stories.

Amanda, missing 5 years suddenly finds her face on the television screen.
Ellie chases a new lead in the search for her brother.
Marina dead for 25 years, who killed her?
Police interviews of Michelle’s family and friends. Nobody is admitting anything.
Shelby returns to her hometown knowing something bad has happened to her best friend.

++++A Great Collection of Short Stories ++++
Each story covers the subject of a runaway from a different angle and would hopefully highlight the plight of the missing and the missed.

Buy all 3 books Amazon

About the author:

Karen J Mossman comes from a family of journalists with her grandfather and uncle having been newspaper editors. Further back a 2x grandfather wrote for his local paper and also published a book based on those articles. Karen is the only one to go into fiction.

Two of her novels are romantic suspense and one is a thriller. She also has three themed short story collections.

Karen is also an avid blogger and book reviewer, “It’s especially important to me to have feedback from my readers, so please leave a review when you have read one of my books.”

Karen lives on the beautiful Isle of Anglesey off the North Wales coast with her husband and elderly Yorkshire terrier. She has two grown up children, who were both born on the same day, two years apart.

“I enjoy writing in different genres and you can see some of my shorter stories on my website.”

https://magicofstories.net
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/karenjmossmanauthor/
Twitter – https://twitter.com/KarenJMoss

LET THE DEAD LIE By W.L. Brooks ~ Release Date

LET THE DEAD LIE

By W.L. Brooks

Series: The McKay Series #1

Genre: Romantic Suspense

A widower with four adopted daughters, Emmit McKay likes to keep a handle on things. But nothing can prepare the former FBI sharpshooter for the battles coming to his small hometown. Especially the one which arrives in such a tempting package.

Savannah Walker moves to Blue Creek to take over as principal of the school Emmit’s daughters attend. With a masters’ degree in education and a no-nonsense attitude, she is caught off guard by the behavior of the McKay girls and never expects to fall in love with them—or in lust with their father. But her intimacy with the family stirs up rumors and unearths secrets.

Savannah and Emmit cannot deny the chemistry which draws them together, but the closer they get, the more dangerous the stakes become. When a murderer is hidden amongst you, you can’t let the dead lie.

Buy Links

Amazon Kindle

B&N NOOK

About the Author

 W.L. Brooks was born with an active imagination.  When characters come into her mind, she has to give them a life- a chance to tell their stories. With a coffee cup in her hand and a cat by her side, she spends her days letting the ideas flow onto paper.  A voracious reader, she draws her inspiration from mystery, romance, suspense and a dash of the paranormal.

A native of Virginia Beach, she is currently living in Western North Carolina. Pick up her latest novel, Let the Dead Lie-available September 15th, 2017!

 

Book Review: The Ice Merchant by Dr. Paul Boor

A Century Ago, When Dead Bodies Were In Demand For Medical Research, Scientists Called On The Ice Merchant

The Ice Merchant, the latest riveting thriller by Dr. Paul Boor, goes back in time to 1889 Galveston to explore the dark history of trafficking in corpses to be used in the medical schools that were popping up across America. In a tale that combines the perfect blend of intrigue, thrills, romance and human weakness, this plot makes for one heck of a page-turner!

Nicolas Van Horne, a shrewd Yankee ice merchant, is happy with his profitable side business. On this particular trip, his first delivery for Galveston’s new Medical School, he’s carrying human cadavers wedged between huge blocks of ice deep in his ship’s hold. When he becomes enthralled with Galveston’s lady scientist Rene Keiller, he makes the gruesome discovery that he’s been trafficking in murdered boys!

With Rene’s help, Nicolas eventually solves the puzzle behind his grisly cargo. But it’s not quite that simple; he must first overcome his addiction to morphine, even as he becomes completely enmeshed in Rene’s experiments on the most dreaded killer of their time…Yellow Fever.

Dr. Boor’s vast background as a scientist and professor at Galveston’s Medical School lends added realism to an already thrilling plot. Also home to the highest-level, infectious Bio-Lab in the nation, Dr. Boor put this experience to work in his first novel, The Blood Notes of Peter Mallow ― a modern biomedical thriller acclaimed as “real, raw and on the edge.”

Dr. Boor is a world-renowned, Harvard-trained pathologist and scientist whose contributions to science are highly respected. He was the recipient of both a Young Investigator and an Established Investigator Award from NIH’s (National Institutes of Health) Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. Passionate about writing, the credibility he brings to his riveting storytelling is making Dr. Boor a hot contender in the thriller and suspense genre.

For more information, please visit: www.theicemerchant.com.

The Ice Merchant
Publisher: Argo-Navis
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0786754931
ISBN-13: 978-0786754939

###

Excerpts from reviews on Amazon.com:

“This book is a true gem… Well written throughout …it is quite different from most books I have read and tells a haunting tale with the story happening in Galveston, TX, and upstate New York, written with great authority and historical insight. The story is realistic for the time (the end of the 19th century) and the language has the right tilt for the time. And last but not least, the book kept my interest from the first to the last page and offered a number of unexpected twists and turns.”

“Here’s a book to ‘sink your teeth into!’ I thoroughly enjoyed the story partly set in Galveston in 1899. Intriguing premise about procuring bodies for a medical school – very believable. The characters were believable and I cared about the welfare of the protagonist and others who were struggling to find the cause and cure of yellow fever. A ‘must read’ for Galvestonians and anyone interested in the history of the Gulf Coast prior to the devastating 1900 storm.”

“This book is extremely good. The plot is very intriguing and suspenseful. The subject is one that I have never read about …Be aware that once you start reading The Ice Merchant, you should be prepared to not get anything else accomplished. The book captures you. I highly recommend this book.”

“Great book. I hope there is a sequence in the making. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and didn’t want it to end.”

“A colorful story of the moral, legal, and scientific challenges of a century ago.”

Book Review: The Thruway Killers by Harvey Havel

Buckle Up For The Thruway Killers: A Rollicking Commentary On Greed, Murder And Mayhem

When values collide and money is thrown in the mix, anything can happen. Author Harvey Havel is back with The Thruway Killers (America Star Books), a delightfully fast-paced crime novel that also points out the absurdities of our times.

Havel does not shrink away from touchy issues of race and religion. Droogan McPhee is the eldest son of a prosperous businessman, and he lacks his father’s sense of propriety and drive to succeed. To his father’s horror, the unemployed, overweight, crack-smoking Droogan becomes romantically entangled with one of the family’s African-American maids. His father uses money to put a wedge between the couple, and Droogan is motivated to act.

A botched murder plot follows, and Droogan and his beloved Angela begin their odyssey up the iconic New York Thruway, pursued by Agent Roderigo Rojas of the FBI and a mercenary named the Spartan. When Droogan slips into a shadowy religious cult, his problems begin to multiply. Havel, with an outsider’s perspective and a keen sense of fun, explores American cultural and political fault lines and whether crossing lines leads to ruin.

Harvey Havel, born in Pakistan with family ties to India, is a prolific writer. His third novel, Freedom of Association, was published in 2006. Other novels include Charlie Zero’s Last-Ditch Attempt, and The Orphan of Mecca, Book One. He is formerly a writing instructor at Bergen Community College in Paramus, New Jersey. He also taught writing and literature at the College of St. Rose in Albany as well as SUNY Albany. Copies of his books and short stories, both new and used, may be purchased at and by special order at fine booksellers everywhere.

The Thruway Killers
America Star Books
Available at Barnes&Noble and Amazon
ISBN: 9781635080384

Praise for The Thruway Killers

Kirkus Reviews: “…Police chases and social commentary come together in this rollicking murder story about an affluent family torn apart by greed, prejudice, and its own foibles….Havel packs a good deal into his novel, which at first glance may appear to be a simple crime story. Themes of interracial or interreligious marriage predominate, from both a black and white perspective…a lot of fun.”

Texas Book Nook: “…wonderfully written and very suspenseful…not for the faint of heart as this one definitely left me looking over my shoulder. Fast paced and filled with surprise moments….”

The Indie Express: “You won’t want to put it down….There were many surprises and the way that Harvey Havel was able to keep the pacing just right really helps everything flow naturally.”

Novel News Network: “I liked the diversity of the novel. It pulls together different elements, all of which are executed well and come together seamlessly….I couldn’t put it down. I really enjoyed the fact that Harvey Havel was able to surprise me a couple of times. I always like a novel that keeps me guessing.”

Book Review: The Ice Merchant by Paul Boor

Chilling Secrets, The Best Sort Of Escape: The Ice Merchant

Serious readers perfectly understand the advantage of well-written fiction: it’s an escape from whatever ails you, whenever it’s convenient. The Ice Merchant, Paul Boor’s newest novel, set in Galveston, TX in 1889, is a tale of the post-civil war ice trade, new medical schools, trafficking in corpses, the discovery of a cure for yellow fever, and a chilling reminder of our human frailties.

The story begins in 1889, when a shrewd Yankee ice merchant, Nicolas Van Horne, is carving out a profitable side-business. Deep in his ship’s icy hold, dozens of human cadavers lie between the huge blocks of ice. On this delivery, his first to Galveston’s new Medical School, Nicolas is enthralled by Galveston’s lady scientist Rene Keiller, but he also makes the ghastly discovery that he’s been trafficking in murdered boys.

It will take Rene’s help to eventually solve the puzzle his ice holds . . . but first he must overcome his personal demons, including morphine addiction, even as he becomes inextricably entangled in lovely Rene’s experimental work on the most dreaded killer of their time, yellow fever.

Paul Boor, M.D., is a scientist and professor at Galveston’s medical school, the oldest west of the Mississippi, and home to the highest-level, infectious Bio-Lab. His first novel, The Blood Notes of Peter Mallow, was a modern biomedical thriller acclaimed as “real, raw and on the edge.” In The Ice Merchant, Dr. Boor goes back in time to explore the history of medical research and the body trade, while spinning a tale of romance and human imperfection.

For more information, please visit: theicemerchant.com

The Ice Merchant
Publisher: Argo-Navis
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0786754931
ISBN-13: 978-0786754939

Available from Amazon

###

 

Amazon readers say:

“I would recommend this book to everyone that likes a book full of suspense. Once I started reading I actually could not put it down and expect not to do anything else. Since it took place in Galveston you could imagine all of the places that were mentioned and the way that they might of looked back then. The plot was great!!! Dr. Boor did a remarkable job. I recommend buying this book….you will not regret it.” ~ Phyllis Scalise

“This book is a true gem. First of all, it is well written throughout, without … the mistakes that non-professional authors often make. Second, it is quite different from most books I have read and tells a haunting tale with the story happening in Galveston, TX, and upstate New York, written with great authority and historical insight. Third, the story is realistic for the time (the end of the 19th century) and the language has the right tilt for the time. And last but not least, the book kept my interest from the first to the last page and offered a number of unexpected twists and turns.” ~ SrgnFsh

“Here’s a book to ‘sink your teeth into!’ I thoroughly enjoyed the story partly set in Galveston in 1899. Intriguing premise about procuring bodies for a medical school – very believable. The characters were believable and I cared about the welfare of the protagonist and others who were struggling to find the cause and cure of yellow fever. A ‘must read’ for Galvestonians and anyone interested in the history of the Gulf Coast prior to the devastating 1900 storm.” ~ Elizabeth Anderson

Book Promo: Mask of Deceit by Paul Zunckel

Mask of Deceit by Paul Zunckel
Now Available in Print and All Ebook Editions!

Mask of Deceit

by Paul Zunckel

Now Available in Print and All Ebook Editions!

Mask of Deceit by Paul Zunckel

Juliana’s world is turned upside down when her husband, Paul, is brutally murdered in the darkness of an alleyway in Venice. She is raped and left for dead while the sounds of the Masked Carnival fill the air.

The only thing that keeps Juliana going is the memories of a perfect love, and her deep desire for vengeance.

With the help of her father, the killers are tracked down, one by one, and on the anniversary of Paul’s death, with the sounds of the Carnival in the background, the killers come face to face with the Mask of Deceit, and pay the ultimate price at the hands of a woman who is dead inside.

 

 

PRE-RELEASE REVIEW

“edge of my seat, escalating heartbeat kind of story”

“I’ve read Paul Zunckel’s Blood Moon Trilogy, and The Devil in Eden. Mask of Deceit is different from those but just as satisfying. His descriptive phrasing drew me right into the scenes all while enjoying the edge of my seat, escalating heartbeat kind of story he has written here!

Frank Herndon

 

 

Mask of Deceit Links

 

KINDLE 

or

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01AKMHDR0

   

NOOK

or 

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%22Paul%20Zunckel%22

 

APPLE

or

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/mask-of-deceit/id1074013069

 

KOBO 

or

https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/mask-of-deceit

 

SMASHWORDS for ALL Ereading Devices

including Nook, iPad, Kindle, and More!

or

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/607076

on SCRIBD Subscription Service

or

https://www.scribd.com/author/290530036/Paul-Zunckel

Mask of Deceit Sneak Peek Video

 

 

Mask of Deceit  Free Preview

 

Where to find Paul Zunckel online

Website: https://PaulZunckelAuthor.wordpress.com

Twitter: @zuncks

Facebook: Paul’s Facebook Page

Blog: https://PaulZunckelAuthor.wordpress.com

Book Promo: Baseball Dads: A Love Story!

Baseball Dads: A Love Story!

by Matthew S. Hiley

Father. Husband. Coach. Golfer. Successful landscaping company owner.

Hero. Pothead. Vigilante. Murderer. Outlaw. Jedi.

Meet Dwayne Devero. He’s just like you and me, except he simply doesn’t give a s**t any more. He’s had enough. He’s done with people living life wrong. You’ll do it right, or he’ll bury you under the bases at the ballpark where he coaches. It’s just that simple.

Tired of poor decisions being made all around him, from the politics of player positions on his son’s little league baseball team to the philandering of his wife in his own bedroom, Dwayne decides that breaking is better than bending. What follows is a wild ride full of carnage and revenge, led by a man who will stop at absolutely nothing to bring honor back to his family, his community… and children’s baseball.

Baseball Dads is a pitch black comedy by author Matthew S. Hiley in which one man takes on the duty of bludgeoning honor back into a sometimes dishonorable world.

Baseball Dads… Sex, drugs, murder, and children’s baseball.

Author Biography

Matthew S. Hiley was born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas. He attended Texas Christian University, and then Northwood University, where he met his wife. They have four children together, along with five dogs, six cats, and two lizards (he’s into the animal rescue thing).

After several years in the business world, Hiley decided to pursue his lifelong dream of becoming a writer. In 2010 he published his first novel, Hubris Falls, which was met with much critical acclaim. Hubris Falls dealt, in very raw language, with the taboo realities in race, religion, and politics.

In 2011, tired of the sewer-cycle of politics and pop-culture the country had become submerged in, he published his second novel, The Candidates: Based on a True Country. This dark and absurd comedy took swipes at the hypocrisy and self-serving nature of those leading the country, as well as the fame-whores in reality television.

In 2014, the twisted comic mind of Matthew S. Hiley struck again. ‘Baseball Dads’ tells the story of Dwayne Devero, a man who just can’t take it anymore. Tired of poor decisions being made all around him, from the little league baseball field to his own bedroom, Dwayne decides that breaking is better than bending. What follows is a wild ride full of carnage and revenge, led by a man who will stop at nothing to bring honor back to his family… and baseball.

Throughout all of Hiley’s books, there is always a strong message to be found. Sure, you may have to wade through some harsh language, crazy sex, and a plethora of drugs to find it… But it’s there, and it might just slap you in the face when you’re least expecting it.

A terrible musician, a reprehensible fisherman, a less-than-mediocre golfer, and a talentless children’s baseball coach, Matthew S. Hiley has found his place in life as a writer whose voice is sharp, witty, and unafraid.