Grady Whill and the Templeton Codex

                            Grady Whill and the Templeton Codex

by Carole P. Roman

 

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GENRE: YA  adventure

 

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BLURB:

 

Templeton Academy- the superhero high school is finally open!

 

The prestigious academy is recruiting the best of the best to enroll in its student body.

 

The school is as mysterious as it is exclusive.

 

Grady Whill thinks there is nothing special about him to make the grade.

 

However, his best friend, Aarush Patel has been selected and thinks Grady has the right stuff.

 

Even school bully Elwood Bledsoe is attending.

 

If Grady is fortunate enough to be picked, his guardian has forbidden him to attend.

 

Will a family secret prevent Grady from becoming the superhero he was destined to be?

 

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EXCERPT

 

There Whill Be Blood

 

A barely cooled lump of lava hardened under my feet. One of my sneakers was stuck between two small rocks in the solidifying mess. I stared at my foot in disbelief. Instinct told me I should be a human torch, my legs nothing more than toasted stumps. I glanced up, my heart beating wildly. We were trapped on the side of the mountain facing our school, separated by a burning sea of molten rocks. 

 

The world around me steamed, the lava staining the sky burnt orange. Trees swallowed by molten rock looked like skeletal hands emerging from a grave that glowed beneath the blackened crust. I saw heat waves shimmering from the earth but felt none of its intensity. I pulled fiercely, feeling my ankle twist. Aarush steadied me as I nearly toppled over. He was shirtless, his back slick with sweat and covered with scrapes. His fingers worked feverishly to free my foot.

 

Overhead two helicopter-sized pterodactyls circled the craggy summit. The wind from their leathery wings buffeted the two of us. I think the air they circulated stopped the patches of lava from cooking us alive, but what do I know?

 

“We better get moving, Grady. Leave your sneaker. We are risking getting burned by staying too long in one spot.” The ever-practical Aarush reasoned as he pulled the velcro releasing my foot. I wobbled, then fell to one knee.

 

“Do you think they’re real?” I hollered to my friend over the noise, pointing upward. 

 

 

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

 

Carole P. Roman is the award-winning author of over fifty children's books. Whether it's pirates, princesses, spies, or discovering the world around us, her books have enchanted educators, parents, and her diverse audience of children of all ages.

 

Her best-selling book, The Big Book of Silly Jokes for Kids: 800+ Jokes! has reached number one on Amazon in March of 2020 and has remained in the top 200 books since then.

 

She published Mindfulness for Kids with J. Robin Albertson-Wren.

 

Carole has co-authored two self-help books. Navigating Indieworld: A Beginners Guide to Self-Publishing and Marketing with Julie A. Gerber, and Marketing Indieworld with both Julie A. Gerber and Angela Hausman.

 

Roman is the CEO of a global transportation company, as well as a practicing medium.

 

She also writes adult fiction under the name Brit Lunden and has created an anthology of the mythical town of Bulwark, Georgia with a group of indie authors.

 

Writing is her passion and one of her favorite pastimes. Roman reinvents herself frequently, and her family calls her the 'mother of reinvention.' She resides on Long Island, near her children and grandchildren.

 

http://www.caroleproman.com/

https://www.facebook.com/CarolePRomanAwardWinningAuthorAndBooks/

https://twitter.com/caroleproman

http://caroleproman.blogspot.com/

https://www.amazon.com/Carole-P-Roman/e/B008ZOXI0W

 

Buy the book: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B4T6PWPH/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i3

 

 

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION

One randomly chosen winner via rafflecopter will win a $50 Amazon/BN.com gift card.

 

 

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Beyond the Book: Comparisons

Which One Do You Like the Sound Of?

I don’t usually like to read about serial killers, police procedurals, or trials, but in spite of it I recently read two. The first was free from the Amazon Prime program, the other was one my cat accidentally bought for me. She stepped on my laptop, and first thing you know I have a new book. One was The Secret Witness, and the other was Rich Blood. Since I read them back to back I thought I’d compare them a little. So here goes.

Blurb:

From the bestselling author of A Killer’s Wife comes the thrilling first installment in the Shepard & Gray series, featuring a young sheriff who teams up with a former prosecutor to stop a copycat killer.

This is Reaper speaking.

So begins an anonymous letter published in a Utah newspaper after a young couple is viciously murdered. Tooele County sheriff Elizabeth Gray leads the investigation into the double homicide, which is eerily reminiscent of a string of brutal killings years ago. When the letter leads detectives to yet another body, Gray calls on an old friend for help.

Former prosecutor Solomon Shepard is still struggling to recover from the deadly courtroom attack that ended his career. He’s been keeping a safe distance from the action, teaching criminology seminars about serial murders and psychopathology—until Gray asks for his help on the Reaper case.

As the body count mounts, Shepard and Gray race to unravel the deranged design of a copycat killer—and find themselves in a face-off with an enemy they never saw coming.

Blurb:

From Wall Street Journal bestselling author Robert Bailey comes a compelling legal thriller about a lawyer who takes on his sister’s case—and confronts small-town secrets and family skeletons.

Attorney Jason Rich has made a fortune off other people’s bad luck. His billboard slogan—“In an accident? Get Rich!”—accosts motorists on highways from Alabama to Florida. As ambulance chasers go, he’s exceptional.

But after a recent divorce and a stint in rehab, Jason has hit a rough patch. And things only get worse when his sister, Jana, is accused of her husband’s murder. Even though Jason has no experience trying criminal cases, Jana begs him to represent her.

Jason has mixed feelings about returning to Lake Guntersville, Alabama—and even more reservations about diving back into his sister’s life. Between the drugs, the affairs, and a tendency to gaslight everyone in her inner circle, Jana has plenty of enemies in town.

But did Jana hire someone to kill her husband? Jason isn’t so sure. He heads back to his hometown to unravel the truth and face off against opponents old and new.

Here are some things the books have in common.

1.Both of them are well written. The skill level of the authors is obvious.

2.Both novels tell a compelling story that pulls you into the fictional world they’ve created.

3.They both deal with dark issues.

4.Both books are suspenseful.

5.Once I got started reading I didn’t want to stop. I wanted to know what was going to happen.

6.Both books had a huge surprise ending. 

So, which one did I like best? Rich Blood didn’t seem quite as formulaic as The Secret Witness. However, as I said, I haven’t read a lot of novels in this genre so I could be wrong. I thought the main characters in The Secret Witness (not counting the serial killer) were nicer than the Rich family of Rich Blood. I didn’t identify much with Jason Rich or his sister Jana even though they were very interesting. 

But the main reason I liked one more than the other is the atmosphere created by the author. In Rich Blood I never felt tense and anxious as I read it. There were some really bad people that Jason had to deal with, but it didn’t make me anxious. In The Secret Witness I felt very anxious. As I was reading it one night around twelve thirty I remembered that I hadn’t watered my plants on the deck. I was scared to go outside and do it. 

My favorite then is Rich Blood. It had a great plot, authentic characters, and a good surprise ending, but it didn’t scare me. If you enjoy a story that ramps up the tension and makes you look over your shoulder I’d recommend The Secret Witness. Either way if you like this genre you won’t be disappointed.

So, do you like the sound of one more than the other?

Veils and Vampires

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The author will be awarding an art nouveau journal to a randomly drawn commenter via Rafflecopter. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

I’m checking out the Bold Tsarina nightclub, even if it is owned by Konstantin, the Bratva crime lord who hates my guts. After all, the trip could snag me a high-paying gig for another mafia king, the infamous Caelin Vass.

Yes, that Caelin Vass.

I’m talking about the hot-as-sin social media sensation who’s rumored to be both a horrible boss and a blood-sucking vampire. And did I mention that Caelin’s also the star of my hottest NSFW fantasies? He is. Plus, that isn’t even the strangest part of my life right now… or the best.

Read my story and have some fun. You know you want to.

Read an Excerpt

I turn around and gasp. On the sidewalk before me are some girls I knew in high school. Devon and Shay. They're from an era when my father, Mikhail, acted as a trusted captain for the Russian mob. Back in those days, my family lived on a massive estate in New Jersey.

It didn't suck.

I wave. “Good to see you.” In reply, they silently stare me down. It’s more than a little creepy. “How's college?”

“Who needs that?” asks Shay. “Where we are, it's a much better education.”

“Let me guess.” I tap my chin. “Some kind of spa training? You two look fit, whatever you're doing.”

“You could say that.” Devon steps closer.

All of a sudden, I'm catching a predatory vibe. The primal lizard part of my brain says, it's time to vamoose. But, that instinct gets overridden by my logical side. I've known Devon and Shay all my life. There's no need to sprint away from them.

An evil light shines in Shay's eyes. “We're so lucky we found you first.”

A Porche screeches out from a nearby alley and slams halfway onto the sidewalk. It's black, sleek, and breaking about five different laws right now. Traffic careens to a halt behind the vehicle.

Horns honk.

Drivers curse.

About the Author:

CEE BEE writes stories that blend epic fantasy, steamy romance, and lots of sass. If you want immersive tales that transport you to fresh worlds (and new book boyfriends) then you’ve come to the right author. To learn more about CEE BEE, please visit www.ceebeeauthor.com.

NOTE: CEE BEE also writes young adult fare under the name Christina Bauer. Check out Christina’s books at www.christinabauerauthor.com. There’s a literal sh*t ton of them.

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Saturday Sample and Weekend Writing Warriors

 Welcome to my blog. Today I'd like to share an excerpt from my all time favorite book Blue 52. On Sunday when you finish here you can go to www.wewriwa.blogspot.com for more excerpts from a talented group of authors. 

Blurb:

"First Lady Kills President Lovinggood" 

December 5, 2018 

Thirty years later, Hank Lovinggood embarks on a quest to prove his mother's innocence and punish the killers who took his family from him. Together Hank and lovely physicist Dr. Kathryn Sinclair confront an implacable, twisted, and merciless enemy who'll do whatever it takes to hide the truth forever.

Last Week's Excerpt: 

Heart pounding, Hank took a deep breath and looked too. His father looked waxy, and his hair seemed to have faded in color, but even in death he was a handsome man. Well built too. The navy blue suit he wore couldn’t disguise those muscles in his chest. Hank saw that he really did look as much like his father as everyone said he did.

A small American flag, a pin, he guessed, was attached to the lapel of his father’s suit. His dad wore a watch thatsomehow seemed a little old-fashioned, the size or shape of it maybe.

He stared at his father for a long time. Once he had gone to a birthday party where a pony had kicked him in the stomach. He pretty much felt the same way right now. This is wrong, all wrong. Dad should be alive, not sleeping in a coffin. We should have had thousands of days together to laugh and quarrel and talk. He should be able to sit up and slap me on the back and get in his Jaguar and drive home with us.

His heart now felt as if a giant hand squeezed mercilessly around it. Why hadn’t he listened to his grandmother? He really shouldn’t have come here. Before this day he had only thought he knew about regret.

Today's Excerpt: Hank and the Senator arrive at the Sinclair Mortuary to view the remains of Hank's mother and father. Last week I forgot to put my name on www.wewriwa.blogspot.com so you may want to look at last week's excerpt before you read today's.

He sucked in another breath and turned to his mother’s coffin. Did she really deserve his regard?

She didn’t look like he thought she would. Death had treated his father kindly, but it hadn’t seemed to touch his mother at all. She looked breathtakingly beautiful with dark hair, a flawless complexion, and rosy pink lips. He had seen many pictures of her and watched every movie she had ever made, yet he still hadn’t expected her to look so beautiful. No wonder his father had loved her. No wonder her fans had idolized her.

She had a serene expression on her face, not the expression of a woman driven to murder and suicide. He looked carefully to see if he could spot the place under her jaw where the bullet had gone in, but the morticians had done a good job; the only thing he saw was a faint discoloration.

The diamond and wedding band his father had given her still graced her finger. Everyone always said how much they had loved each other, and in the few dim memories he had of them, they were always laughing and seemed happy.

The Junkyard Dick

 

The Junkyard Dick

by Gillespie Lamb

 

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GENRE:   Contemporary mystery

 

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BLURB:

 

Salvage yard operator and part-time sleuth Tak Sweedner is asked by a buddy, Roque Zamarripa, to investigate a murder. Tak says OK and for his trouble is assaulted with a tire iron. Then he's run off the side of a cliff-the investigation really goes downhill at that point!

Tak calls up gal-pal Emma to help him and soon discovers his feelings for the woman go beyond palling around. When she asks him to give up his investigation and concentrate on her, Tak balks. She might better have asked a bulldog to give up its bone. It would be like quitting, Tak said, and he wasn't a quitter.

Can this blue-collar crime-solver hang in there to get the bad guy... AND win his girl?

 

 

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EXCERPT

 

Sunday stroll with dog…

I scratched behind the dog’s ears when it strolled over for companionship. We were a lazy pair. His eyes pleaded with me for a walk. So, I carried the bowl inside, rinsed it, grabbed a hat, and we headed out to the pasture behind the house. Otis trotted ahead and periodically ran back to jump against me and trot away again. A fun, fun dog.

 

I unhooked the pasture gate for us, and we moseyed north into my thirty-five acres of south Texas soil. We moved past clumps of blackbrush and sumac, through stretches of buffalo grass, and under a live oak whose branches seemed to defy gravity in their undulating horizontal reach. I admired several Beauty Berry shrubs near the western edge of the property that were favorites of wandering white-tailed deer. Certain times of the year, hungry deer virtually stripped the plants of their lavender fruit.

 

Otis padded down the bank of a dry gulch that foamed with runoff after heavy rains, but normally was no more than a pleasing variant in the landscape, cutting southeast across flat terrain. The dog poked its head into a guajillo thicket on the other side. The bush wasn’t good for livestock but was great for honeybees. Preserving it was my contribution to the local honey industry.

 

Otis lifted his leg to fertilize the bush and we began to walk the gulch back toward the house. A black-tailed jackrabbit sprang from hiding and Otis gave chase for half a minute before returning to my side with tongue lolling from the side of his muzzle.

A Word With the Author

1.Did you always want to be an author?

Not that I recall. I always enjoyed reading fiction, a habit undoubtedly picked up from my mother. The Hardy Boys mystery novels were favorites. Yet I don’t recall writing a short story or anything else outside of school class assignments, nor did I take any writing courses in college. On the other hand, I did find journalism interesting. I finally got into that work as a career after some years of pointless moseying around the country. I polished my writing skills there. Only in the last several years did I begin to feel a need to communicate through fiction and to generate short stories and full-length novels. I am loving it.

 

2.Tell us about the publication of your first book.

My first published book was The Beamy Courage of Gerta Scholler. Published in 2017, it is a middle-grades reader set in the 1860s that tells the story of an eight-year-old girl who rides an “orphan train” from New York City to Kansas. That novel came about while I was working on another book, published in August as The Junkyard Dick. I decided to take a break from that project and turn a short story into a novel suitable for school libraries. Beamy Courage was the result. I like Gerta a lot and am learning other people do, too. I hope the book has a long shelf life in school libraries and homes.

 

3.Besides yourself, who is your favorite author in the genre you write in?

Well, that’s the thing. So far, I have not settled into a genre. The Junkyard Dick is a mystery, not another reader for children. I also co-authored a nonfiction history book published in July, The Aviation Pioneers of McCook Field. I don’t read exclusively within genres, either. Some favorite authors—I’m not just dropping names here—are Martin Cruz Smith, Tony Hillerman, Wallace Stegner, Walter M. Miller, Martha Grimes, Zora Neale Hurston, Louis L’Amour, John D. McDonald, Craig Johnson, Cormac McCarthy, a guy named Dickens, and so on. Good company. I try not to think in terms of genres, anyway. We all know of novels that upon publication were categorized as mysteries or romances or thrillers only to become label-less classics. 

 

4.What’s the best part of being an author? The worst?

I believe creativity courses through just about everyone and authoring a book is a wonderful outlet for that creative impulse. A novel also is a means of saying and doing things through characters and story that we otherwise would never be able to say or do. For example. I have never murdered anyone—except in the pages of my novel. An aggravating part of being an author is the uncertain legitimacy of the work. To wit: “I wrote a novel.” “Un huh. Have you done anything else or is that it?” Writing novels is a significant and laudable accomplishment. I believe that. Not everyone does. While that attitude can be annoying, mostly it amuses me.

 

5.What are you working on now?

In terms of my next writing project, I am polishing a book about a middle-aged man’s response to the political and cultural tumult of our day. He believes he has something worthwhile to contribute to the conversation but can’t figure out how to do it without running for public office. He finally does find a way to engage—only to find himself immersed in a tumult. The rest of the book is about he deals with the pushback that threatens his business, his family and his relationship with a woman in the opposite camp. The book is a love story at heart.

 

My other project stems from The Junkyard Dick. The novel is set in the Texas town where I live… Uvalde. The school shooting that rocked the town in May incidentally impacted my plans to market the novel. I subsequently formed a nonprofit organization into which will go any royalties I receive plus contributions from my Texas publisher. That will be seed money for fund-raising efforts to support programs that will foster creative writing among elementary-age children in Uvalde. It will be an ongoing educational effort to help the community and its children recover from the tragedy. You can learn more about the nonprofit, which I named The Story Inventors Club Inc., by visiting the website, storyinventorsclub.com. And thank you. 

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

Gillespie Lamb developed writing skills as a newspaper reporter, editor and     columnist before leaving journalism to become a freelancer and pursue less formulaic writing. He published his first novel in 2017, a middle-grades reader about a girl who rode an “orphan train” from New York City to Kansas. It is titled The Beamy Courage of Gerta Scholler. This second novel is his initial foray into the mystery genre. The setting of The Junkyard Dick is the  ruralTexas region where Lamb lives.

 

Gillespie Lamb

Website: https://www.gillespielamb.com/

 

NOTE:  

My latest novel, The Junkyard Dick, is a mystery set in Uvalde, Tex. It contains numerous allusions to Uvalde streets, restaurants, swimming in the Nueces, and so on, and positively characterizes this multicultural, county-seat town where I happen to live.

 

One week before I began marketing the book through my website (gillespielamb.com), Uvalde became a national byword for school shootings. A minor consequence of that tragedy is that suddenly my book became awkwardly positioned in the marketplace. Many people naturally will see promotion of a book about Uvalde at this time as shamelessly cashing in on the tragic event. I want neither the perception nor the reality of that.

 

So, I have created a nonprofit that will benefit elementary fiction-writing programs in Uvalde—or create such programs out of whole cloth. Any royalties I receive from the book will go into the fund along with contributions from the publisher, Black Rose Writing. That will just be seed money. I will be soliciting donations to the fund from the literary industry and associated artistic ventures, from local and regional community organizations and businesses, and from readers anywhere who find comfort, escape or inspiration in fiction.

 

I am calling the nonprofit “The Story Inventors Club,” which is appropriately juvenile so that it might appeal to young people. It will be dedicated to the proposition that young imaginations are capable of producing fictional stories of merit and enduring value. The hoped-for legacy of the Club would be creation of a new generation of prose (and poetry) to delight readers, and the instilling of enhanced cognitive, language and communication skills in some young people.

 

So, as a consequence of all of the above, I now will be promoting two things: (1) a novel that I believe in on its literary merits, and (2) a Club that I believe can build a new and creative legacy upon the ashes of misfortune.

 

For more information on this Club, please go here:  https://www.storyinventorsclub.com/home

 

 

Black Rose Writing

https://www.blackrosewriting.com/mystery/thejunkyarddick?rq=the%20junkyard%20dick

 

Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/Junkyard-Dick-Gillespie-Lamb/dp/1685130178/

 

Goodreads

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61257463-the-junkyard-dick

 

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION ble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. 

 

 

 

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Improbable MD

<

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotoins. The Literary Lobbyist will be awarding a $25 Amazon GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

In Improbable MD, Dr. Derek J. Robinson traces his unlikely journey from fishing on the bayous of Louisiana, to an ER and helicopter flight physician in Chicago, to leadership in some of the US’ largest health care organizations.

The grandson of a sharecropper and son of a single mother, Derek grew up in a working-class neighborhood in Shreveport, LA. A graduate of the city’s public schools, he saw first-hand the difference that access to quality education and health care made within his own family. He shares how his dream of being a doctor became a reality, despite the odds, and why he believes mentoring and investing in young people is vital to the health of our nation.

Robinson takes the reader inside the ER, where he has treated victims of gun violence and shares how spilt-second clinical decisions and the trust of his patients, shaped his appreciation for being a doctor, But, even with many years of training, he exposes how it feels to reach the limits of what he can offer patients and even shares the pain and lessons he has learned from the illness and loss of family members. Beyond the walls of the ER, Dr. Robinson explains how we became a business leader in health care and influential voice in boardrooms.

Through sharing his inspirations and tribulations, Dr. Robinson inspires readers to push beyond both self-doubt and external obstacles to pursue their dreams. In telling his story, he shares the roles that faith, friendship, love, and fatherhood have played in his life, and he hopes to motivate readers to chart their own journeys to successful and fulfilling lives.

About the Author:

Derek J. Robinson is a board-certified physician in Emergency Medicine. He is vice president and chief medical officer at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, a division of Health Care Service Corporation – the nation’s largest non-investor owned health insurance company. In this role, he leads the care management operations division and serves as the company’s primary health care expert.

Dr. Robinson continues to provide clinical care to patients in the ER at the University of Illinois Chicago where he is a clinical associate professor of emergency medicine. His unique perspective on the complexities of healthcare, including his past service as a health care federal regulator, have enabled him to influence the transformation of health care for Americans. He has been featured on WTTW, WMAQ, WLS-TV, BNC, and other news outlets discussing important health care issues and social topics.

A native of Shreveport, LA. Dr. Robinson resides in Chicago, IL with his wife and two sons. When he is not working, he enjoys swimming, cycling, fishing, and spending time outdoors. For more on Derek Robinson and his memoir Improbable MD visit: http://www.DrDerekRobinson.com

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Cutter Kauai Sea Adventures (Series)

Cutter Kauai Sea Adventures (Series)

Dagger Quest, Book 1

by Edward Hochsmann

 

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GENRE: Action/Adventure, Contemporary

 

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Dagger Quest

 

An aging Coast Guard patrol boat is all that stands between the world and nuclear annihilation!

 

The world is on the brink of war, with NATO mobilizing to counter a Russian threat to Poland and Lithuania and leaders openly discussing war options. In the midst of the crisis, a Russian bomber collides with a U.S. fighter off Florida causing the accidental launch of a nuclear-tipped hypersonic missile.

 

A Coast Guard cutter on a routine patrol finds a drug-laden sailboat smashed and adrift north of the Florida Keys. The boat’s damage is from a near miss by the Russian missile which has not harmlessly flown deep into the Gulf of Mexico as initially thought, but crashed somewhere in the Keys.

 

The Coast Guard crew is in a race against a vicious and powerful international crime syndicate to find and recover the Russian nuke before its discovery can trigger a nuclear war.

 

Exploring the friendship and teamwork of a typical ship's crew, in the face of unexpected and hazardous challenges, Dagger Quest provides a fast-paced, taut story - excellent fare for both sea adventure and military thriller fans.

 

 

 

Dagger Quest Excerpt

 

 

Ben’s first encounter with the 252 Syndicate ends in a high-speed chase through Key West, Florida:

 

Ben slowed and veered right onto Flagler with a screaming of tires and modest fishtailing as he straightened on the new path. Their pursuers also swung in behind them from Roosevelt a few seconds later. 

 

“Floor it!  We’ll be hanging a right on Tenth in ten blocks, same tactic. Keep hitting that horn!”

 

Ben stayed on the horn, dodging through traffic at speeds approaching fifty miles per hour. 

 

“Counting down,” Simmons said, “Fourteenth, Thirteenth, twelfth, Eleventh, slow down and prepare to hang a right, NOW!” 

 

Ben executed another tire-squealing turn and straightened out, heading north on Tenth, gunning the engine and leaning on the horn. 

 

“Stand by to hit the brakes!” Simmons shouted. “Steady, steady, NOW, hit the brakes!”

 

Ben stood on the brake pedal, tires shrieked, and the anti-lock braking chattered. After skidding to a stop in the middle of the street next to a large lagoon, Simmons shouted, “Get down!” He opened both doors on his side of the car, using the rear door for cover. 

 

Ben dropped behind the seat as their pursuer began screeching to a stop. Suddenly, there was a tremendous crash with the sound of tearing metal and followed by a large splash. Simmons shut the doors and said in a normal tone, “OK, let’s roll. Back to the base, nice and easy.”

 

Ben shot up and saw several figures in combat gear with guns drawn running forward from an SUV stopped in the middle of Tenth Street. The car chasing them was coming to rest upside down in the lagoon. “WHAT—THE—HELL!” he shouted at Simmons.

 

“Come on, friend, we need to move it. It’s handled. We’re clear now, so stay law-abiding all the way, please.” 

 

Ben stared at him for a few seconds, then pressed the accelerator. The engine raced briefly, and then, with shaking hands, Ben shifted into Drive. 

 

“See, you’re a natural,” Simmons said with a smile. “You didn’t even realize you shifted into Park.”

 

 

 

 

Caribbean Counterstrike

 

Mission: Five days to destroy the enemy in the Caribbean before a catastrophic weapon is unleashed—but all he can think about is the woman he left behind…

 

The deadliest nerve gas ever made has fallen into the hands of a murderous Caribbean drug cult. The criminal 252 Syndicate has the gas in a secret lab on an oil rig servicing ship, but the ship has been taken for ransom by the Salinas Cartel in a violent drug war. The U.S. can’t use airstrikes and calls on Coast Guard Officer Ben Wyporek to lead his crew through a risky covert raid on the Salinas cult’s fortified island base. He accepts the assignment, but remembers a previous lethal encounter with the 252s and struggles to say goodbye to the love of his life, Victoria Carpenter.

 

Ben and his crew aboard the stealth-equipped Cutter Kauai must sneak into the harbor and tow the ship away. But if Kauai is detected and defeated, death by gas or at the hands of vicious adversaries will follow. Now, every decision Ben makes will determine the fate of his entire crew—and the chances of reuniting with Victoria.

 

This second book of the series builds on the friendships and teamwork of Kauai's crew, this time in the face of several challenging missions and one potentially lethal encounter. It is a worthy sequel to Dagger Quest that sea adventure and military thriller fans will enjoy.

 

 

 

 

Bravely and Faithfully

 

 

A New Captain’s First Patrol Turns into a Fight for Their Lives

 

Young Coast Guard Lieutenant Haley Reardon has not even gotten her feet on the ground on her new patrol boat command when she finds herself and her crew supporting a dangerous covert mission. They must insert and retrieve a Defense Intelligence Agency operations team trying to seize a transnational criminal syndicate boss from a small Caribbean island controlled by a front company of the Chinese government and protected by a superior military force.

 

A honeymoon period would be lovely, but, as always, the world gets a vote.

 

Can Haley avoid leaving the DIA team to their fate, when attempting to rescue them could destroy her crew and boat and lead to war?

 

This third installment of the series conveys the humor, friendships, and teamwork of Kauai's crew from the previous books, with a new series of exciting actions from search and rescue to combat. The crew and their new skipper must come together for the toughest mission they have ever faced.

 

A Word With the Author

Can you describe your dream home?

High ceilings with big windows looking out to the mountains. Definitely a country setting, not in a place that is wicked hot or cold.  Tile floors and a three-car garage.  And, of course, a detached hangar for my airplane!

If we were to come to your house for a meal, what would you give us to eat?

My specialties are Cream of Mushroom and Chicken, Chicken and Sausage Gumbo, London Broil with noodles or Classic Spaghetti—take your pick.

Tell us about the absolute BEST fan letter you have received.

The greatest complement I ever had in a review was from a reader in Prague, Czechoslovakia, who said the end of the story felt like she was leaving the crew, and she didn’t like it (leaving). This is the best that an author can hope for—the reader wants to be part of the crew.

Say your publisher has offered to fly you anywhere in the world to do research on an upcoming book, where would you most likely want to go?

If it had to be for research, I guess either Martinique or Guadeloupe.

Who designed the book cover for the book you are touring?

         A cantankerous old goat named SpudzArt does all my Kauai series covers.  

 

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

Edward Hochsmann is the pen name of a retired U. S. Coast Guard search and rescue and law enforcement professional. The veteran mariner, aviator, college professor, and defense analyst has added “author” to his list of experiences. Ed likes reading, police procedurals, contemporary music on the road, and classical music in the office. After a career traveling from Australia in the west to Italy and Germany in the east, Ed has settled into a quiet life in the Florida Panhandle to focus on writing (and not shoveling snow!) 

 

Ed has two novels published right now (plus one launching in August 2022) in the Cutter Kauai Sea Adventures series about a Coast Guard patrol boat assigned to "special" missions. Dagger Quest takes place in the Florida Keys and involves an aging Coast Guard patrol boat dragooned into a search for a lost Russian nuclear weapon in a time of international crisis. The second, Caribbean Counterstrike, features the same patrol boat and crew, now with equipment and training upgrades, sent to recover a deadly nerve gas from a murderous Caribbean drug cartel. Bravely and Faithfully has Kauai, under a new captain supporting a covert raid on a Caribbean island held by the Chinese.

 

Ed's second series, C6S: Patrol Force deals with a combined defense establishment and constabulary for a galactic economic empire called the Confederation of the Six Systems (C6S). Ed has published two novellas and a novel-length collection late last year. 

 

Stay connected with Ed – 

 

Website: https://www.edwardhochsmann.com/ 

 

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20594307.Edward_Hochsmann

 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edhochsmann/

 

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/edward-m-hochsmann

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B1L82HD1/

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B1N24GBV/

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B1W1J26C/

 

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/dagger-quest-1

 

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/caribbean-counterstrike-1

 

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/bravely-and-faithfully-1

 

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION 

 

 

One randomly chosen winner via rafflecopter will win a $50 Amazon/BN.com gift card.

 

 a Rafflecopter giveaway