P.D. Workman's Blog, page 71
January 28, 2020
Excerpt from A Wrinkle in Time
If you’re wondering what my plans are for publishing in 2020, be sure to take a look at my blog from last week. There is lots in the pipeline for you!
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme. Read the rules and more teasers at The Purple Booker. Anyone can play along.
I just finished re-reading A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle. Chances are, you’ve either read this book or seen the movie, or both. It has been popular since it was published in 1962, although it has also been one of the most commonly banned books.
I was also interested in some of the background in the Afterword to the edition that I read. I told of how when she was going through a period of religious questioning, her pastor had suggested she read some German theologians, but they just put her to sleep. She instead started to read the works of physicists such as Einstein, and it opened up a whole new world for her. You can see in A Wrinkle in Time how she saw connections between mathematical and physics principles and religion.
A great read in the tradition of C.S. Lewis.
Life, with its rules, its obligations, and its freedoms, is like a sonnet: You’re given the form, but you have to write the sonnet yourself.
Madeleine L’Engle, A Wrinkle in Time
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It was a dark and stormy night; Meg Murry, her small brother Charles Wallace, and her mother had come down to the kitchen for a midnight snack when they were upset by the arrival of a most disturbing stranger.
“Wild nights are my glory,” the unearthly stranger told them. “I just got caught in a downdraft and blown off course. Let me sit down for a moment, and then I’ll be on my way. Speaking of ways, by the way, there is such a thing as a tesseract.”
A tesseract (in case the reader doesn’t know) is a wrinkle in time. To tell more would rob the reader of the enjoyment of Miss L’Engle’s unusual book. A Wrinkle in Time, winner of the Newbery Medal in 1963, is the story of the adventures in space and time of Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin O’Keefe (athlete, student, and one of the most popular boys in high school). They are in search of Meg’s father, a scientist who disappeared while engaged in secret work for the government on the tesseract problem.
January 23, 2020
The year ahead
With the advent of a new year, you maybe wondering what you can expect to see from my pen this year. Or maybe you’re not, but I thought it was a good topic for the beginning of the year.
Since my cozy mysteries have been doing well, that is much of my focus for this year.
You can look forward to six new books from the Reg Rawlins Psychic Detective series. One has already been released this month.
Reg Rawlins is a spin-off from the Auntie Clem’s Bakery series, and I haven’t forgotten about Erin Price and her friends. There are three more books on the way:
I also have a special project coming up. I can’t say much about it right now, but it is a multi-author thriller series that I think is going to be a blast. My book in the series is Virtually Harmless. An announcement and cover reveal will be coming soon.
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I will have a couple of other books toward the end of the year, probably from the Medical Kidnap Files and Zachary Goldman Private Detective series.
There you go! That’s my lineup for this year! I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I have enjoyed writing them.
January 21, 2020
Excerpt from 61 Hours
Night of Nine Tails was released last week! Have you picked up your copy yet? Reviews for book #4 in the Reg Rawlins Psychic Investigator series are good! It can be read as a stand alone, but if you don’t want to miss out on the rest of the series, you can get books 1-3 for $0.99.
I am re-reading 61 Hours by Lee Child, book 14 in the Jack Reacher series. Like the other Jack Reacher books, it is a well-written suspense book with lots of twists and turns to keep you on your toes. Jack Reacher always stumbles into the strangest circumstances, and 61 Hours is no exception. He also doesn’t appreciate the cold of South Dakota winters, and after the weather in Calgary the past week, I can sympathize. It’s also one of the few books I’ve ever read that mentions Chinooks.
The prison bus might have been almost new, but it was far from luxurious. The passenger area was separated from the driver by a bright steel cage. The seats were narrow and hard and faced with shiny plastic. The floor was rubber. The mesh over the windows was menacing. But there was heat.
Lee Child, 61 Hours
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A bus crashes in a savage snowstorm and lands Jack Reacher in the middle of a deadly confrontation. In nearby Bolton, South Dakota, one brave woman is standing up for justice in a small town threatened by sinister forces. If she’s going to live long enough to testify, she’ll need help. Because a killer is coming to Bolton, a coldly proficient assassin who never misses.
Reacher’s original plan was to keep on moving. But the next 61 hours will change everything. The secrets are deadlier and his enemies are stronger than he could have guessed—but so is the woman he’ll risk his life to save.
January 17, 2020
Release of Night of Nine Tails and others
It is release day for Night of Nine Tails, book #4 in the Reg Rawlins, Psychic Investigator series. It’s almost a year since the last book came out in this series, so I know you’re eager to jump back into it! Two more will be released in the next couple of months (Telepathy of Gardens and Delusions of the Past).
If you haven’t read the first three books in the series, you’re in luck, because they are currently on sale for just $0.99. Get caught up and then get started on Night of Nine Tails.
BUY NOWSAMPLEBOOKBUB GOODREADS
About Night of Nine Tails
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Reg recognizes that feeling of dread.
Something is disrupting the spiritual atmosphere in Black Sands, but no one else seems to be aware of its menacing presence. So Reg does her best to push it to the back of her conscious mind and to focus on new friendships and opportunities. She has been in Florida for long enough that it’s time to have some fun.
But ignoring the presence doesn’t make it go away, and before long, Reg has been dragged into a manhunt—or a creature hunt—that is scarier than anything she has faced in the paranormal community yet.
With the help of some long-buried memories and unexpected helpers, Reg is able to find a few answers… and a lot more questions.
BUY NOWSAMPLEBOOKBUB GOODREADS
Other new releases
Looking for more? You can never have too many books, right? Check out these other awesome new releases.
.ugb-1fdd753 .ugb-img{width:313px;height:auto !important}.ugb-1fdd753 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-1fdd753 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-1fdd753 .ugb-button svg{color:#ffffff}.ugb-1fdd753 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}Hex Type Thing
Hadley Hunter is feeling on top of the world.
She’s embracing her new home on Moonstone Bay and coming into her own as a witch. Her boyfriend Galen Blackwood, who happens to be sheriff, is even involving her in his investigations.
Unfortunately, the peace on Moonstone Bay is about to be threatened.
A local millionaire and a one-hit-wonder songstress are hosting the Skyclad Festival, a paranormal beach extravaganza that features a bevy of famous faces in paranormal circles … and those who want to hobnob with them. There’s only one little problem … .
One of the local influencers, a woman whose only job is to rave about things on the internet, ends up dead. Then, in short order, the organizer himself goes missing. That means Galen is on the case … and Hadley insists on serving as his sidekick.
There are a lot of witches on the island. The question is: Is magic to blame for murder or is something more insidious happening?
It’s going to take everyone working together to find the correct answers – and keep each other safe – as the problem on the beach deteriorates.
.ugb-712569e .ugb-img{width:331px;height:auto !important}.ugb-712569e .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-712569e .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-712569e .ugb-button svg{color:#ffffff}.ugb-712569e .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}Hidden Salem
Nellie Cavendish has very good reasons to seek out her roots, and not only because she has no memory of her mother and hardly knew the father who left her upbringing to paid caregivers. In the eight years since her twenty-first birthday, very odd things have begun to happen.
Crows gather near her wherever she goes, electronics short out when she touches them, and when she’s upset, really upset, it storms. At first, she chalked up the unusual happenings to coincidence, but that explanation doesn’t begin to cover the vivid nightmares that torment her. She can no longer pretend to ignore them. She has to find out the truth. And the only starting point she has is a mysterious letter from her father delivered ten years after his death, insisting she go to a town called Salem and risk her life to stop some unnamed evil. Before her thirtieth birthday.
As a longtime member of the FBI’s Special Crimes Unit, Grayson Sheridan has learned not to be surprised by the unusual and the macabre–but Salem is different. Evidence of Satanic activities and the disappearance of three strangers to the town are what brought Salem to the attention of the SCU, and when Gray arrives to find his undercover partner vanished, he knows that whatever’s hiding in the seemingly peaceful little town is deadly. But what actually hides in the shadows and secrets of Salem is unlike anything the agents have ever encountered.
.ugb-85565d4 .ugb-img{width:313px;height:auto !important}.ugb-85565d4 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-85565d4 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-85565d4 .ugb-button svg{color:#ffffff}.ugb-85565d4 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}The Grandpa Killer
Two eighty-year old victims…
…had roofies in their system.
Why would someone give the victims a date-rape drug?
Luca has heard the rumors and now there’s an official complaint. A high-end assisted-living community’s ownership has been accused of abuse. It seems like a straightforward matter to investigate, but is there something more sinister going on?
Is this about euthanasia or greed?
Luca thinks there may be a third option.
With a plate full of burglary investigations, one of which, led to the victims being pistol-whipped, Luca is swamped. Will he be able to unravel the clues and get to the truth?
His gut says there’s a connection…
…but who is behind it?
Is it only about a payday?
You’ll love this next installment in the Luca Mystery series, because of hard-nosed, relentless, detective work and his mind for unraveling the lies and deception.
.ugb-1c0e8f4 .ugb-img{width:333px;height:auto !important}.ugb-1c0e8f4 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-1c0e8f4 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-1c0e8f4 .ugb-button svg{color:#ffffff}.ugb-1c0e8f4 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}Devoted
Woody Bookman hasn’t spoken a word in his eleven years of life. Not when his father died in a freak accident. Not when his mother, Megan, tells him she loves him. For Megan, keeping her boy safe and happy is what matters. But Woody believes a monstrous evil was behind his father’s death and now threatens him and his mother. And he’s not alone in his thoughts. An ally unknown to him is listening.
A uniquely gifted dog with a heart as golden as his breed, Kipp is devoted beyond reason to people. When he hears the boy who communicates like he does, without speaking, Kipp knows he needs to find him before it’s too late.
Woody’s fearful suspicions are taking shape. A man driven by a malicious evil has set a depraved plan into motion. And he’s coming after Woody and his mother. The reasons are primal. His powers are growing. And he’s not alone. Only a force greater than evil can stop what’s coming next.
.ugb-91277d7 .ugb-img{width:338px;height:auto !important}.ugb-91277d7 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-91277d7 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-91277d7 .ugb-button svg{color:#ffffff}.ugb-91277d7 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}A Tough Nut to Crack
Christmas is over, but the holiday stories don’t have to end!
Saucy makes his stage debut in the local community play while teenagers are running amok at the high school, Mayor Cora Mae Bingham is trying to decorate every tree in town and a new spice has hit the streets of Spicetown!
Can the “city’s finest” save Christmas?
.ugb-c6420f6 .ugb-img{width:313px;height:auto !important}.ugb-c6420f6 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-c6420f6 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-c6420f6 .ugb-button svg{color:#ffffff}.ugb-c6420f6 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}Ghost at the Feast
Yuletide is almost upon us. The season of cheer. My favourite time of year. Shame danger doesn’t take a vacation.
With a location for the dastardly Custodians finally in our hands, we’re off to shut down a secret underground operation, and hopefully save a few lives in the process. Always a bonus.
Shame on me for believing anything could be so simple.
As if we didn’t have enough on our plates, the spirit realm decides to throw a hissy fit.
All clues point to the shimmer man.
Yeah, the shimmer man is back, and he’s making his presence known. The binding keeping me safe is still intact, but I don’t think that’s going to stop him.
Not this time.
.ugb-b781356 .ugb-img{width:313px;height:auto !important}.ugb-b781356 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-b781356 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-b781356 .ugb-button svg{color:#ffffff}.ugb-b781356 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}All at Sea
When socialite Maisie Frobisher heads off on a cruise to India in search of adventure, little does she know what form it will take.
First some jewellery, then an important document goes missing from an ambassador’s cabin. If that document gets into the wrong hands there will be trouble. And it’s definitely in the wrong hands…
Maisie already has her suspicions of a fellow-guest at the captain’s table. However, when he turns out to be a police inspector travelling incognito and takes over the investigation, Maisie’s nose is put firmly out of joint. Then a crime of an entirely different kind rears its head, and Maisie finds that the past she is trying to escape from just won’t let her go…
.ugb-a450e76 .ugb-img{width:333px;height:auto !important}.ugb-a450e76 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-a450e76 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-a450e76 .ugb-button svg{color:#ffffff}.ugb-a450e76 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}The Three Graces
Amara Cooper experienced a level of terror most people wouldn’t understand. Not only was she targeted by a dead man but she was also held captive by him until Carrie Jo intervened. But the Widowmaker hasn’t given up on possessing her.
In the meantime, the dangerous entity has keyed in on the most vulnerable member of the Stuart family. In order to get a better grip on the house’s tragic history, Carrie Jo begins her paranormal work. It isn’t long before she uncovers heartbreaking secrets. As the family pulls together to help Amara, and the dead that are trapped at Gracefield, they step into the fight of their lives.
.ugb-da685e1 .ugb-img{width:357px;height:auto !important}.ugb-da685e1 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-da685e1 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-da685e1 .ugb-button svg{color:#ffffff}.ugb-da685e1 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}The Wipeout Affair
Lexie Milano left her heart in Bocas del Toro, and the new and improved New Yorker makes the big choice to move to the laid-back Caribbean island permanently. Piña coladas, white sand beaches, and a little cabin of her own on the edge of the rainforest complete her picture of the perfect tropical future awaiting her. But if it looks too good to be true, it usually is…
When the body of a beautiful wealthy local is found at an isolated surf camp, the owner calls on Lexie to help him figure out who did it in this delicious whodunit. Reluctant sleuth Lexie first turns to the police, but her sudden access to a treasure-trove of island secrets convinces her it’s time to solve another murder on her own.
.ugb-e24f2b9 .ugb-img{width:331px;height:auto !important}.ugb-e24f2b9 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-e24f2b9 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-e24f2b9 .ugb-button svg{color:#ffffff}.ugb-e24f2b9 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}Peace Talks
HARRY DRESDEN IS BACK AND READY FOR ACTION, in the new entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling Dresden Files.
When the Supernatural nations of the world meet up to negotiate an end to ongoing hostilities, Harry Dresden, Chicago’s only professional wizard, joins the White Council’s security team to make sure the talks stay civil. But can he succeed, when dark political manipulations threaten the very existence of Chicago–and all he holds dear?
.ugb-8dacbcd .ugb-img{width:331px;height:auto !important}.ugb-8dacbcd .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-8dacbcd .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-8dacbcd .ugb-button svg{color:#ffffff}.ugb-8dacbcd .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}Crooked River
A STARTLING CRIME WITH DOZENS OF VICTIMS.
Appearing out of nowhere to horrify the quiet resort town of Sanibel Island, Florida, dozens of identical, ordinary-looking shoes float in on the tide and are washed up on the tropical beach–each one with a crudely severed human foot inside.
A GHASTLY ENIGMA WITH NO APPARENT SOLUTION.
Called away from vacation elsewhere in the state, Agent Pendergast reluctantly agrees to visit the crime scene–and, despite himself, is quickly drawn in by the incomprehensible puzzle. An early pathology report only adds to the mystery. With an ocean of possibilities confronting the investigation, no one is sure what happened, why, or from where the feet originated. And they desperately need to know: are the victims still alive?
A WORTHY CHALLENGE FOR A BRILLIANT MIND.
In short order, Pendergast finds himself facing the most complex and inexplicable challenge of his career: a tangled thread of evidence that spans seas and traverses continents, connected to one of the most baffling mysteries in modern medical science. Through shocking twists and turns, all trails lead back to a powerful adversary with a sadistic agenda and who–in a cruel irony–ultimately sees in Pendergast the ideal subject for their malevolent research.
.ugb-c57957f .ugb-img{width:333px;height:auto !important}.ugb-c57957f .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-c57957f .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-c57957f .ugb-button svg{color:#ffffff}.ugb-c57957f .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}Mooved to Murder
Chelsea Lawson is a ride-or-die friend. When her best friend Tilly asked her to stay at her place to watch her six-year-old daughter and pets for a while, Chelsea didn’t hesitate to say yes. What she didn’t realize was that “Tilly’s place” was a micro-farm and “a few pets” included a cow and two goats as well as a child who was too smart for her own good.
Chelsea was already in over her head before the dead body turned up.
When the local community, instead of offering support, tries to run her out of town, Chelsea suspects something is going on. Something big and rotten. The mayor makes it clear she’s not wanted and the townspeople give her the cold shoulder, but that only makes Chelsea more determined to uncover their secrets.
January 14, 2020
Excerpt from Long Road to Mercy
January is National Slavery and Human Trafficking Awareness Month. Check out my last blog for more information and some books to read on the topic.
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme. Read the rules and more teasers at The Purple Booker. Anyone can play along.
I am currently reading The Long Road to Mercy by David Baldacci. Baldacci always writes great police procedurals and thrillers, and so far, The Long Road to Mercy does not disappoint. Atlee Pine, an identical twin who lost her sister in an abduction as a small girl, grows up to become a body builder and FBI agent and in this first book in the series, is investigating the disappearance of a tourist from the Grand Canyon. Of course, he was not actually a tourist, and pursuing the investigation after she’s been told to back off could mean the end of her career.
The moment, an eternity in the making, had finally come.
David Baldacci, Long Road to Mercy
Atlee Pine leaned forward, her lips an inch from the thick glass.
“Where’s my sister?”
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Eeny, meeny, miny, moe. Catch a tiger by its toe.
It’s seared into Atlee Pine’s memory: the kidnapper’s chilling rhyme as he chose between six-year-old Atlee and her twin sister, Mercy. Mercy was taken. Atlee was spared.
She never saw Mercy again.
Three decades after that terrifying night, Atlee Pine works for the FBI. She’s the lone agent assigned to the Shattered Rock, Arizona resident agency, which is responsible for protecting the Grand Canyon.
So when one of the Grand Canyon’s mules is found stabbed to death at the bottom of the canyon-and its rider missing-Pine is called in to investigate. It soon seems clear the lost tourist had something more clandestine than sightseeing in mind. But just as Pine begins to put together clues pointing to a terrifying plot, she’s abruptly called off the case.
If she disobeys direct orders by continuing to search for the missing man, it will mean the end of her career. But unless Pine keeps working the case and discovers the truth, it could spell the very end of democracy in America as we know it…
January 13, 2020
Three books just $0.99
For a limited time, you can pick up the first three Reg Rawlins books for just $0.99!
Buy Now
A self-professed con artist practicing as a contact to the dead, a drop-dead gorgeous warlock, and a psychic cat—what could go wrong?
This set includes:
1. What the Cat Knew
The fortune teller gig started as a scam, but Reg suddenly finds herself tangled up in the case of Warren Blake, a man who she thought was dead. It turns out he may still be alive, but in mortal peril.
2. A Psychic with Catitude
Reg Rawlins is back in business, asked by Detective Jessup to consult on a missing persons case. Little does she know that it’s not your average teen runaway or kidnapping. There is something strange going on and time is running out for the teen.
3. A Catastrophic Theft
Reg’s relationship with Sarah, who has been her loyal friend and protector since she arrived becomes strained when Sarah’s precious emerald necklace disappears. There is no shortage of suspects, with Reg herself at the front of the line.
Get your paws on these three books now!
Buy Now
January 9, 2020
Fiction about Human Trafficking
Navigate Post
Introduction
Definition
What can I do?
Red Flags
Read Books
Introduction
Did you know that January is National Slavery and Human Trafficking Awareness Month, and January 11 is Human Trafficking Awareness Day?
Human Trafficking is a huge industry, in both North America and around the world. With an estimated 40 million victims and generating $150 billion annually, it is not limited to third world countries, and affects people in all classes and industries. Children are particularly vulnerable, especially runaways and those in foster care.
According to US Homeland Security:
“Human trafficking erodes personal dignity and destroys the moral fabric of society. It is an affront to humanity that tragically reaches all parts of the world, including communities across our Nation. Each day, in cities, suburbs, rural areas, and tribal lands, people of every age, gender, race, religion, and nationality are devastated by this grave offense. During National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, we reaffirm our unwavering commitment to eradicate this horrific injustice.”
Defining Human Trafficking
According to 22 U.S.C. § 7102(9), human trafficking is:
The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.
What can I do?
There are plethoric ways to get involved in the fight against human slavery, and I encourage you to get involved in this meaningful and impactful movement. The first step is to believe that you can make a difference. It is crucial to read about and research issues related to trafficking, to familiarize yourself with the “red flags” that are symptomatic of human trafficking situations. Seemingly small actions, including purchasing items made by trafficking survivors, meeting with governmental representatives in your region to discuss their anti-trafficking measures, volunteering with victim outreach initiatives, starting campus conversation, signing an anti-trafficking petition and writing an op-ed on the problem of human slavery, are integral parts of the equation that catalyzes change.
Megan Foo, Founder of Inspirational Women Series and Undergraduate, The Wharton School
DHS is calling for people to wear blue on Saturday to raise awareness about human trafficking. Follow the link for more information on human trafficking in the US and some details about exploitation in migrant worker camps. Tweet using #WearBlueDay
Red Flags
According to DHS, some of the signs of victims of human trafficking include:
Does the person appear disconnected from family, friends, community organizations, or houses of worship?Has a child stopped attending school?Has the person had a sudden or dramatic change in behavior?Is a juvenile engaged in commercial sex acts?Is the person disoriented or confused, or showing signs of mental or physical abuse?Does the person have bruises in various stages of healing?Is the person fearful, timid, or submissive?Does the person show signs of having been denied food, water, sleep, or medical care?Is the person often in the company of someone to whom he or she defers? Or someone who seems to be in control of the situation, e.g., where they go or who they talk to?Does the person appear to be coached on what to say?Is the person living in unsuitable conditions?Does the person lack personal possessions and appear not to have a stable living situation?Does the person have freedom of movement? Can the person freely leave where they live? Are there unreasonable security measures?
Hotel de Jeunesse is a clever website set up to educate hotel workers and others about the signs of sex trafficking taking place out of hotels. When you first look at the website, it looks like a hotel website, but as you read it move closely, you will see something else lurks beneath! Read the signs for hotel workers to be aware of.
Reading Books
I have always felt that the best way to connect to the human side of human trafficking and other social issues is through stories. Fiction allows us to really connect with victims emotionally, taking us out of our own reality to consider others’ perspectives.
Many of the authors below have done extensive research into how human trafficking happens; how traffickers identify, groom, and coerce their victims, the damage it causes, the size of the industry, etc.
These are gritty, suspense-filled stories that will keep you on the edge of your seat and also have you thinking for a long time about the human impact of trafficking. Enjoy and be educated!
.ugb-891e915 .ugb-img{width:724px;height:auto !important}.ugb-891e915 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-891e915 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-891e915 .ugb-button svg{color:#ffffff}.ugb-891e915 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}Gem, Himself, Alone
I recently published Gem, Himself, Alone, the story of a teen who was the victim of human trafficking.
Gem has a secret.
About Gem, Himself, Alone
Teenage Gem, alone on the street, has survived abuse, institutionalization, and captivity. He has lost everything and everyone he ever loved, but is finally free to build a life.
There is only one person he can count on, and that is himself.
Gem buries his past the best he can, joins up with the Rippers gang for protection, and does what he has to in order to survive.
But Riker, a vice cop, makes it his business to take away the precious freedom Gem has earned and put him behind bars.
If he can just break Gem’s alibis.
But Riker doesn’t know Gem’s secret.
While Riker can sympathize with what Gem has been through, he can’t let a dangerous criminal run free on the streets.
Riker delves into Gem’s past in a bid to discover his secrets. Can he sort through the tangled threads to lay bare Gem’s past? And if he does, will he be able to put Gem behind bars once more?
.ugb-3ee05f2 .ugb-img{width:724px;height:auto !important}.ugb-3ee05f2 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-3ee05f2 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-3ee05f2 .ugb-button svg{color:#ffffff}.ugb-3ee05f2 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}Unlawful Harvest
Another kind of human trafficking is trafficking for organ transplantation. Once considered an urban legend, kidnapping for the purposes of organ donation is rampant in many parts of the world today, resulting in the death or disfigurement of many victims.
Get it Now[image error]About Unlawful Harvest
Unlawful Harvest is a Kenzie Kirsch Medical Thriller. If you have been reading the Zachary Goldman Mysteries, then you have met Kenzie Kirsch, who works in the medical examiner’s office.
This story will take you back to before Kenzie started medical school, to the case that first attracted her to medical investigation.
When an Urban Legend becomes the truth
Kenzie Kirsch had led a sheltered life; daughter of a wealthy lobbyist, her way had been paved for her, and she wasn’t really required to do much in life. There were events to make an appearance at, boards to sit on, fundraisers to support, but she could pick and choose what she wanted to do and how busy she wanted to be.
When she set out to find out why her sister Amanda was so ill, she had no idea where her amateur investigation would take her. Amanda’s illness had never been discussed. Amanda deserved her privacy.
As Kenzie’s questions take her deeper and deeper into the murky world of transplant tourism, Kenzie starts to wonder just what her parents have been covering up, and who else’s life might hang in the balance.
.ugb-e6bc094 .ugb-img{width:300px;height:auto !important}.ugb-e6bc094 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-e6bc094 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-e6bc094 .ugb-button svg{color:#ffffff}.ugb-e6bc094 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}My Family’s Slave
I read this article about Slavery in Modern America a couple of years ago, and it has really stuck with me.
“She lived with us for 56 years. She raised me and my siblings without pay. I was 11, a typical American kid, before I realized who she was.”
.ugb-566cddf .ugb-img{width:324px;height:auto !important}.ugb-566cddf .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-566cddf .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-566cddf .ugb-button svg{color:#ffffff}.ugb-566cddf .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}Pretty Little Girls
Until you know who to trust, trust no one.
The disappearance of a prep school girl from an affluent family leads to a hidden world of shocking secrets.
FBI Agent Victoria Heslin investigates alongside local police, but the mysteries only get deeper. Why are the girl’s parents so uncooperative? And why are the local authorities resisting her help?
When her efforts uncover a sex trafficking operation, Heslin enlists friend and fellow Agent Dante Rivera to go rogue and try to save the girls, before it’s too late.
.ugb-d76e5ac .ugb-img{width:683px;height:auto !important}.ugb-d76e5ac .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-d76e5ac .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-d76e5ac .ugb-button svg{color:#ffffff}.ugb-d76e5ac .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}Red Heeled Rebels Series
Vigilante justice on a global scale carried out by sassy, spunky heroines from around the world.
The Red Heeled Rebels series features a diverse cast of iron-willed young women from four continents who fight for their lives and race across the world to free others shackled by unimaginable horrors.
And they make the villains pay. Oh yes, they make them bleed in the end.
.ugb-ac28ca6 .ugb-img{width:329px;height:auto !important}.ugb-ac28ca6 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-ac28ca6 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-ac28ca6 .ugb-button svg{color:#ffffff}.ugb-ac28ca6 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}Beach Traffic
Missing at the Beach – The Ocean Can be Deadly!
Graduate student Kat Benson was excited about seeing her college boyfriend, Liam Cross, at their Tulane University reunion on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Kat’s childhood friend, Heidi is looking for great sex and a fantastic weekend hookup.
But, things turned bad quickly when they learn a friend of theirs had been brutally attacked. Federal and local law enforcement officials are concerned about a vicious murder on the beach and the disappearance of five women.
.ugb-722d036 .ugb-img{width:333px;height:auto !important}.ugb-722d036 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-722d036 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-722d036 .ugb-button svg{color:#ffffff}.ugb-722d036 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}The Case of Dr. Dude
Someone Is Kidnapping And Trafficking Women
When a young woman disappears after a job interview at a well-known dentist’s office in Richmond, Virginia, retired homicide detective Michaela McPherson and Angel her retired police dog are pulled into a crime that goes far beyond a missing person case. With the help of her close friend, the aging Countess Dorothy Borghase, and Richmond police, McPherson dives in.
Could Human Trafficking Really Be A Problem In The United States?
This case pits McPherson and her companions against evil and greed armed with tentacles that span continents and generations. Russian mobsters are in America, kidnapping girls to auction off to the highest bidder in the international black market. Is there any hope of stopping an underground operation that extends so far and wide?
.ugb-1b3a0d4 .ugb-img{width:333px;height:auto !important}.ugb-1b3a0d4 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-1b3a0d4 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-1b3a0d4 .ugb-button svg{color:#ffffff}.ugb-1b3a0d4 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}Desert Rose
In an instant, Jennifer’s life is forever altered.
When her ten-year-old daughter, Sarah, is abducted in Dubai, expats Jennifer and her husband Kevin are thrown into an unimaginable nightmare. With very little help provided by the local authorities and the US Embassy, Jennifer watches her life erode away and the tension in her marriage increase. Driven by rage and desperation, she is forced to make decisions she never thought possible.
An investigation without answers. A cover-up. A conspiracy. A betrayal.
There is no turning back.
What would you do if your child was taken?
.ugb-b83e0a5 .ugb-img{width:217px;height:auto !important}.ugb-b83e0a5 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-b83e0a5 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-b83e0a5 .ugb-button svg{color:#ffffff}.ugb-b83e0a5 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}A New Beginning
John Hayes is back.
A chance meeting with a fascinating woman has the potential to change John’s life. Could she be the one to bring him the happiness he lost after his wife was brutally murdered? Will it be that easy?
Newly wealthy John Hayes is living an idyllic life in the exotic city of Bangkok. He spends his days keeping fit, exploring the city and enjoying the wonderful food but he is lonely, and when a beautiful woman walks into his life he thinks he has a chance to start afresh.
But with John life is never simple.
A penniless young girl desperate to start a new life, a high flying foreign businessman with a murky past, an alluring woman all come together to test John once again.
Should he get involved and potentially risk his life and the lives of others? Or should he walk away and lose the woman he is growing to love?
.ugb-5f5ecee .ugb-img{width:217px;height:auto !important}.ugb-5f5ecee .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-5f5ecee .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-5f5ecee .ugb-button svg{color:#ffffff}.ugb-5f5ecee .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}Hollywood Sacrifice
In 1984 when Monarch Program assassins track and hunt Glenn, he makes a new friend that could help him turn the tables and become the hunter, but first, he may need to help her. As a struggling dancer at the Hollywood Showcase, Casey’s desperation to raise money for her sister’s surgery leads her into the arms of the same threat facing Glenn.
Together they discover the evil they face is more horrific than imagined. Can either of them survive? Will they save each other?
.ugb-d2f8f48 .ugb-img{width:313px;height:auto !important}.ugb-d2f8f48 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-d2f8f48 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-d2f8f48 .ugb-button svg{color:#ffffff}.ugb-d2f8f48 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}You’ll be Safe
After the murder of his wife and unborn child, Jack Bass longs for death. In fact, he welcomes it. That is, until Amanda, his lovechild with Major Lori Darden, unexpectedly enters his life. Jack tries to shroud his new life with his daughter in privacy, determined that the events of his past should not threaten his daughter. But no matter how hard he tries, Jack cannot avoid trouble. It relentlessly pursues him.
Homeless Veterans Are Disappearing From The Streets
After being kidnapped and delivered to an isolated encampment, veterans are given a medication that makes even the most out-of-control psychotic captives turn into walking, order-taking, defenseless shells. They are used as slave labor, exploited then killed whenever the mood strikes their captors.
Despite his best efforts to remain isolated from the world, Jack is faced with a choice between protecting himself and his daughter or helping to save these veterans who are being victimized for profit.
.ugb-cf03151 .ugb-img{width:230px;height:auto !important}.ugb-cf03151 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-cf03151 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-cf03151 .ugb-button svg{color:#ffffff}.ugb-cf03151 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}The Career Killer
A public body dump; an invisible killer.
When young women are murdered and their bodies posed like marionettes in tourist hotspots around London without a single witness seeing the killer come and go, the case ought to go to a detective with decades of experience investigating serial murder.
Instead, newbie DCI Elsie Mabey lands the case, bringing with her a ragtag team of misfits and rejects. Rather than the Met’s finest, they’re the “not quite fired” of London policing.
.ugb-fc90267 .ugb-img{width:329px;height:auto !important}.ugb-fc90267 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-fc90267 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-fc90267 .ugb-button svg{color:#ffffff}.ugb-fc90267 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}She’s Gone
There’s a thin line between justice and vengeance.
Can a disgraced CIA Black Ops Specialist rescue a young girl kidnapped by a vicious Cartel?
Find out in this action-packed globetrotting thriller.
It’s a race against time as Pete Maddox puts his lethal skills to the test raging a one-man war against a powerful Mexican Cartel with sicario hitmen and corrupt officials from Honduras to San Francisco standing in his way.
Crossing the border into the United States opens up a whole new set of problems for Maddox as a determined Special Victims Unit Detective from San Francisco begins to suspect that a vigilante is out there looking for a victim of the cartel’s trafficking network.
.ugb-7c3f11c .ugb-img{width:334px;height:auto !important}.ugb-7c3f11c .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-7c3f11c .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-7c3f11c .ugb-button svg{color:#ffffff}.ugb-7c3f11c .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}The Lost Girls
This is one of the best books about grooming/luring girls for trafficking that I’ve ever read.
The brutally beaten body of a young girl is discovered in a marsh in Jamesport, one of New York’s most elite suburbs. Police comb the area, while many speculate her murder might be connected to the abduction, six months earlier, of three girls from Jamesport. The FBI has evidence of an underage prostitution and trafficking ring which may be related.
At the request of the FBI, Billy Dee, captain of the Ninth Precinct in the Bronx, head of its Sex Crimes Unit, sends two of his most seasoned detectives to Jamesport to conduct their own investigation: Bella de Franco and Jimmy “Mack” Menendez. They are sent north, back into the land of the beautiful.
Between local politics, fractured families, a heroin epidemic and a dark secret that the wealthy town strives to keep hidden, the unspeakably dark and twisted reality lurking behind Jamesport life is uncovered. As they learn that everything is not what it seems in this wealthy suburb, Bella and Mack must race against the clock to save one last girl before she is sold across state lines, where she will vanish forever.
.ugb-92bf40e .ugb-img{width:313px;height:auto !important}.ugb-92bf40e .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-92bf40e .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-92bf40e .ugb-button svg{color:#ffffff}.ugb-92bf40e .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}The List
When Revenge Sparks Danger — Karma is Hell!
When her fiancé is injured in Afghanistan, Harper Drake immerses herself in the military. Now, as NCIS Director, she heads a secret faction, fighting corruption and terrorism—until she’s abducted by a trafficking cartel.
Wyatt Rose can’t overcome his loss—especially after his sister’s murder. When the New Patriots recruit him, he finds a traumatized girl that spirals him into a rabbit hole of conspiracy, drug smugglers, and slavery.
Obsessed with revenge, can a ghost save Wyatt and Harper before her rage explodes, or will she spin them all through the gates of Hell?
Trailer
January 7, 2020
Excerpt from Then She Was Gone
How is your New Year so far? I hope you are enjoying 2020 and looking forward to a prosperous year. Check out my New Year’s blog for some reads and resources.
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme. Read the rules and more teasers at The Purple Booker. Anyone can play along.
I just finished reading domestic thriller Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell. It is a slow build, not an edge-of-your-seat rollercoaster ride. The character development is good and the players relatable. You have a pretty good idea of the twists it will take before they come, but that doesn’t reduce the enjoyment in watching it unfold. An enjoyable read!
Note that the Amazon description, copied below the graphic, is quite spoilery, and you may not want to read it!
And then one morning, her girl, her golden girl, her last born, her baby, her soul mate, her pride and her joy, had left the house and not come back again.
Lisa Jewell, Then She Was Gone
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Ellie Mack was the perfect daughter. She was fifteen, the youngest of three. She was beloved by her parents, friends, and teachers. She and her boyfriend made a teenaged golden couple. She was days away from an idyllic post-exams summer vacation, with her whole life ahead of her.
And then she was gone.
Now, her mother Laurel Mack is trying to put her life back together. It’s been ten years since her daughter disappeared, seven years since her marriage ended, and only months since the last clue in Ellie’s case was unearthed. So when she meets an unexpectedly charming man in a café, no one is more surprised than Laurel at how quickly their flirtation develops into something deeper. Before she knows it, she’s meeting Floyd’s daughters—and his youngest, Poppy, takes Laurel’s breath away.
Because looking at Poppy is like looking at Ellie. And now, the unanswered questions she’s tried so hard to put to rest begin to haunt Laurel anew. Where did Ellie go? Did she really run away from home, as the police have long suspected, or was there a more sinister reason for her disappearance? Who is Floyd, really? And why does his daughter remind Laurel so viscerally of her own missing girl?
January 1, 2020
A new year and a new you
As I write this blog, we are just a few hours from 2020. Some people love to celebrate a new year, and some people just want to ignore it. I start my planning for the new year in about September, so by the time December is on its way out, I’m usually pretty well set for my next year’s plan.
This year, I wanted to do a round-up of useful posts or books if you are interested in improving yourself and/or planning for the new year. So if you are a New Year’s planner, pull up a chair and have a look.
.ugb-6c079bd .ugb-img{width:1024px;height:auto !important}.ugb-6c079bd .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-6c079bd .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-6c079bd .ugb-button svg{color:#ffffff}.ugb-6c079bd .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}Goal setting books
I have previously shared my favourite goal-setting/year planning books in this blog.
More books you may like on new beginnings and self improvement are also included.
.ugb-4901452 .ugb-img{width:1024px;height:auto !important}.ugb-4901452 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-4901452 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-4901452 .ugb-button svg{color:#ffffff}.ugb-4901452 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}Planners
This blog repeats some of my favourites above, but also runs through a few of the different planners available that you might like to have a look at.
Other meditation/inspirational books are also included.
.ugb-3089475 .ugb-img{width:323px;height:auto !important}.ugb-3089475 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-3089475 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-3089475 .ugb-button svg{color:#ffffff}.ugb-3089475 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}Ten Rules that Ruin Your Life
Angela M. Robinson has just released this memoir focusing on self help and breaking rules to see more personal freedom.
Buy now[image error]Author planners
Are you an author? How about some planners made especially for writers?
[image error]https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1732515174/[image error]https://lovekissedauthorcreatives.com/index.php/love-kissed-author-planners/[image error]http://www.authorproductivity.com/
December 31, 2019
Excerpt from Ready Player One
Christmas and solstice and many of the other celebrations of the season are past, and I hope you had a good time! If you are looking for a few free Kindle books to add to your reader or app, Unlawful Harvest is free for a couple more days. This promo ends New Year’s Day, so grab it now. I’m not sure how many of the others listed in my blog are still free, but it’s worth it to check them out!
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme. Read the rules and more teasers at The Purple Booker. Anyone can play along.
I just finished Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline. I had certainly heard about it before, but I hadn’t read the book or seen the movie. If you are looking for a book with lots of 80s pop culture nostalgia, this is the one to read! While set in 2045, the protagonist and his competitors must learn everything they can about 1980s technology, music, movies, etc. in order to solve the clues that Halliday has left behind. I don’t read a lot of sci fi/futurist fiction, but this one was full of references to the TRS-80 Color Computer 2 (saving programs to cassette tapes), War Games, and so much more.
“Before I died,” Anorak says, speaking in much deeper voice, “I created my own Easter egg, and hit it somewhere inside my most popular videogame—the OASIS. The first person to find my Easter egg will inherit my entire fortune.”
Ernest Cline, Ready Player One
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In the year 2045, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he’s jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS. Wade’s devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world’s digital confines—puzzles that are based on their creator’s obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them.
But when Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade’s going to survive, he’ll have to win—and confront the real world he’s always been so desperate to escape.
