Blind Chess
by Cristelle Comby
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: Mystery & Detectives
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
It is
supposed to be Neve and Egan. Two partners, a team. What happens when a member
of this team of Private Investigators is shot, prognosis unknown?
As Alexandra Neve lays comatose and
defenceless, Ashford Egan must take on their enemy alone, and find the cagiest
criminal Scotland Yard has seen in decades. Determined to succeed, Egan will
stop at nothing. He’ll hit on married women, plant bugs, hire hitmen. And he’ll
do it all blind, which makes things ten times as difficult.
Double-crossed by friends, convinced
there is corruption in those sworn to uphold the law, Egan is forced to form
unlikely alliances as he moves forward in a game that requires skills, nerves
of steel, and a willingness to play against all odds.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT
A
gentle wind is blowing, but it is too cold for the leaves to carry any scent.
Seconds tick away, as I wait.
A
few minutes before the half hour, I hear the whining of the Lantesks’ garage
door and soon after the rumble of a car engine coming to life. Mrs Lantesk is
on time to go to work.
Ten feet
long
the old woman had said of the gravel lane. It isn’t much and I count the
seconds after I first hear the crunching of gravel under the car’s tyres. On
three, I take a large step forward, bracing myself for the impact I know is
coming.
An
instant later, the front of Mrs Lantesk’s car hits me on my right side and I
fly to the ground, instantly losing all sense of direction. Up is down, down is
left and I am only certain of one thing.
I
hurt.
Turns
out, no matter how ready you are for it, no matter how much planning is
involved, or how carefully you give in to the motion and roll to the floor to
absorb as much of the momentum as possible... getting hit by a moving vehicle
hurts.
The
car comes to an abrupt halt an instant later, tyres screeching against the
gravel. The engine dies and I hear the car door open. It is followed by a
steady stream of feminine and high-pitched, ‘Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God.’
Monica
Lantesk must be wearing heels for I hear her feet tapping the pavement as she
hurries towards where I lie sprawled.
‘Are
you all right?’ she asks in between another chortle of oh-my-Gods.
I
am, for the most part. I’m not seeing stars or anything and I take quick stock
of the situation. Nothing seems broken; my glasses are missing, but I still
have my cane in hand. I push myself up on one elbow and make a show of moving
the cane about in what I hope is a dazed and confused manner. There is another
wave of oh-my-Gods, as the woman realises I am blind and she starts to pat me
awkwardly on the shoulder.
A Word From the Author:
A Word From the Author:
What's the best and worst part of being an
author?
It’s a great job, which allows you to use your creativity. There are no
limits to what you can create. Also, you can set up the pace, work only when
you feel like it, and you’re your own boss. That being said, it’s a lonely job.
You’re always on your own and other people don’t really understand what the job
entails and how many long hours it takes to get a book out there.
Which book of yours is your favorite? Why
The last
one, Blind Chess. It is the book I’ve
been dying to write since I started the Neve & Egan series. I had to wait
to get there though, the characters needed to grow and evolve and it took me
three books to have Egan ready to carry a whole book on his shoulders. It’s
been great fun though, having him alone on the case. Though it was, by far, the
toughest book the series to write. I knew it would be hard to write from a
blind person’s POV, I just didn’t know how much.
What are your favorite authors in the genre
that you write?
I like the
classics. I’m a huge fan of the Sherlock
Holmes series. The Maltese Falcon’s
also a must-read in the genre, like
Strangers on a Train. The Agatha Christie are good too.
Which of your characters is most like you?
Neither. I
think I’m more of a blend of the two. I’m quiet, introverted like Egan, but
also fierce and loyal like Neve. I think it depends on the situation.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Cristelle Comby was born and
raised in the French-speaking area of Switzerland, in Greater Geneva, where she
still resides.
Thanks to her insatiable
thirst for American and British action films and television dramas, her English
is fluent.
She attributes to her
origins her ever-peaceful nature and her undying love for chocolate. She has a
passion for art, which also includes an interest in drawing and acting.
Blind Chess is her fourth
new-adult novel in the Neve & Egan series.
Links :
Website: http://cristelle-comby.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/Cristelle
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/CristelleComby
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What character in a book would you like to be best friends with?
ReplyDeleteThanks for having me.
ReplyDeleteHappy 2016!
Cristelle