Blind Chess

Blind Chess

by Cristelle Comby

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GENRE: Mystery & Detectives

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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.

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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:

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

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&field-author=Cristelle%20Comby&search-alias=digital-text&sort=relevancerank   

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/CristelleComby

Cristelle Comby will be awarding all four books of the series, signed by the author (International Giveaway) to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Use the link below to enter.


a Rafflecopter giveaway