P.D. Workman's Blog, page 80
June 27, 2019
Books for your birthday
It’s that time of year again. The arrival of my birthday, Canada Day, and Independence Day. Amazing that three such important birthdays fall so close together.
Even if you don’t live in Canada or the USA, consider this your birthday celebration too. I have rounded up some free and $0.99 books for you, so celebrate by filling your Kindle with some inexpensive summer reads!
My deals:
In the Tick of Time
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Things creep and crawl in the woods. Things that can wreak havoc with your life.
Things that can be deadly.
As an infectious disease expert for the DOH’s vector-borne disease division, Matt Malloy knows this. What he doesn’t know is who, or why, someone would want to deliberately infect innocent people. Adding insult to injury, his co-workers think he’s either paranoid or losing his mind because of erratic behavior and disordered sleep habits.
Behavior he can’t help. A traumatic head wound can have that effect on a man. He was clocked hard while interviewing a patient with Lyme disease weeks ago, and he’s still suffering from it.
But he’s definitely not crazy.
Or paranoid.
Someone is deliberately infecting people. Maybe even someone he knows. Very soon, that someone will know Matt’s on to him.
Can he prove his suspicions before he’s targeted, too?
A nail-biting, creepy-crawly, medical-thriller that fans of Robin Cook will devour because it could happen to you. Maybe it already has.
Read it today.
Free on Kobo and Apple Books , $0.99 on Kindle , free on Bookfunnel .
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Gluten-Free Murder
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Erin Price moves to Bald Eagle Falls, a place where everyone knows everyone as well as everyone else’s business, taking over the store left to her by her aunt to start up a gluten-free bakery. The grand opening is marred by just one thing, the death of her business rival, Angela Plaint. It appears that Angela was poisoned by one of Erin’s cupcakes, making her a prime suspect.
Equipped with cupcakes, her desire for the truth, and new bakery assistant Vicky’s help, Erin goes head-to-head against Detective Terry Piper to solve the murder. Rumors of treasure hunting, drug dealing, and a missing boy swirl around Bald Eagle Falls as Erin tries to sort the clues from the red herrings and find the killer before the killer can take care of her.
$0.99 on Kindle, $2.99 on Kobo, free with newsletter sign-up.
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And more…
What You Did
Former FBI-profiler, Eva Rae Thomas, faces the most personal case in her career, as bestselling author Willow Rose’s new hit series continues.
Three girls disappear on prom night at the local high school. One of them is the prom queen.
FBI profiler Eva Rae Thomas is chasing her long-lost sister when detective—and boyfriend—Matt Miller asks her to join the investigation of the three girls’ disappearance. They were last seen walking home together after the dance.
When the body of a young girl shows up in her backyard, Eva Rae knows she can no longer watch from the sidelines, and soon she realizes not only is she involved in this investigation, she’s also this killer’s target.
One Slip
When Connie Silverstein agreed to babysit her friend’s four-year-old son, she never dreamed it would end in disaster. Now the usually dependable medical student finds herself responsible for the boy’s near drowning and subsequent brain damage.
Connie is desperate to help the boy recover, but the grieving mother no longer trusts her. Consumed by guilt, Connie attempts to deaden her pain with alcohol. But there’s not enough vodka in the world to right the wrong she’s done. Family and friends attempt to intervene in her downward spiral, assuring her that tragic accidents can happen to anyone.
But only Connie knows the terrible secret that what happened was no accident.
Dead Witch on a Bridge
Is her magic strong enough to stop a killer?
On her first assignment as a demon-hunting witch, Alma was unable to kill. Now broke and unemployed at twenty-six, she lives in Silverpool, a remote town in a redwood forest north of San Francisco, where she sells magic-infused jewelry and tries to live a drama-free life.
When fairies draw her to the dead body of her ex-boyfriend, she must defend herself and the hidden power in Silverpool from an influx of supernatural trouble. The only way to make peace—and stay alive—is to find the killer.
Drawing upon years of formal magical training she’d rather forget, and using other abilities she’d like to keep secret, Alma goes up against bloodthirsty fae, a dangerously charming demon, her infamous father, and other ambitious witches with agendas of their own.
This time, an inability to kill might be not just the end of her job, but of her life…
Dead of Winter
When the fingers of dead women start showing up in the Supreme Court’s mail, ex-FBI Agent Jeremy Winter is brought back to the Bureau to aid in the investigation.
Agent Maggie Keeley, his girlfriend and now boss, leads the search for the serial killer. Together, Jeremy and Maggie learn the five remaining cities on the murderer’s list, but they have no idea when the killer will strike or whom he will target. When they stumble upon a clue at the scene of a young woman’s death, the case focuses on an abandoned ramshackle home in sparsely populated west Texas.
As the FBI closes in, the ante is upped in ways no one could have imagined, forcing Jeremy to choose between justice and revenge.
Don’t Lie to Me
When twelve-year-old Sophie Williams went on a Girl Scout summer camp, she never returned home.
Three months later, her body is found inside her sleeping bag in the most frequented area of Cocoa Beach, and the town is outraged.
The girl isn’t just any child. She’s the town’s most beloved surf idol, and it was believed that she could be the next Kelly Slater.
As another child, the son of a well-known senator is kidnapped, and the parents receive a disturbing video, FBI profiler Eva Rae Thomas — who has just returned to her hometown, divorced and out of a job — plunges into the investigation, breaking her promise to her children not to do police work again.
Local law enforcement, with her old flame Matt Miller in charge, are the ones who ask for her help in a case so unsettling that only she can solve it. But the deeper they dig, the deadlier it becomes for Matt and Eva Rae. Soon, everyone she holds dear is in grave danger as this case hits a little too close to home.
Arsenic in the Azaleas
After her ex-husband leaves her high and dry, former socialite Doreen Montgomery’s chance at a new life comes in the form of her grandmother, Nan’s, dilapidated old house in picturesque Kelowna … and the added job of caring for the animals Nan couldn’t take into assisted living with her: Thaddeus, the loquacious African gray parrot with a ripe vocabulary, and his buddy, Goliath, a monster-size cat with an equally monstrous attitude.
It’s the new start Doreen and her beloved basset hound, Mugs, desperately need. But, just as things start to look up for Doreen, Goliath the cat and Mugs the dog find a human finger in Nan’s overrun garden.
And not just a finger. Once the police start digging, the rest of the body turns up and turns out to be connected to an old unsolved crime.
With her grandmother as the prime suspect, Doreen soon finds herself stumbling over clues and getting on Corporal Mack Moreau’s last nerve, as she does her best to prove her beloved Nan innocent of murder.
Murder at the Old Abbey
White Monk Abbey is a local landmark and its resident patriarch, Caradoc Mansell, a foreboding presence. He runs his household and family as if he is still in the army. And he’s been known for rubbing people up the wrong way.
So, when he is found murdered, the challenge Chief Inspector Matt Lambert of the Newport police faces is that many people had a powerful grudge or good reason to want him dead.
And when it is discovered that Caradoc had children from dalliances in his youth, his family also fall under suspicion – their substantial inheritance having been put in doubt.
Honeymoon Cottage
Camilla Stewart’s ex-fiancé ripped her off and disappeared, leaving her to care for his eight-year-old son alone. But when she arrives in Pajaro Bay, she finds a village full of cute cottages, quirky characters… and a killer on the loose who is somehow linked to her, the young boy, and the darling little house known as the Honeymoon Cottage.
Free
Red Phoenix
In the aftermath of a series of student riots in Seoul, the U.S. Congress rushes a bill into law calling for the complete withdrawal of American troops from South Korea. This sets off a chain reaction: North Korea attacks across the DMZ, Russia supports North Korea, the Chinese remain neutral, and the United States fights again alongside its South Korean allies.
The full range of ground, air, and naval forces take part in vicious combat, first to hold off the North Korean onslaught, then drive them back.
Death of a Crafty Knitter
After solving a murder, gift shop owner Stormy Day is famous in Misty Falls.
When she lets a mysterious fortune teller offer romance advice, Stormy is drawn into a world of deception. When a body shows up, more secrets and lies follow, confounding the investigation.
Even Jeffrey, the mischievous Russian Blue cat, seems puzzled by the Death of the Crafty Knitter. As Stormy races to find the killer, the danger escalates, bringing the amateur sleuth and the cold-blooded killer face-to-face for a startling climax.
Tragedy at Piddleton Hotel
1932. Growing bored in the autumn of her years, Londoner Annabel Churchill decides to buy a private detective agency in a Dorset village. The purchase brings with it the eccentric Doris Pemberley and it’s not long before the two old ladies have their first case.
No one has made more enemies than the local busybody, Mrs Furzgate, but when she suffers a fatal fall at Piddleton Hotel everyone assumes it was an accident. The detective duo, Churchill and Pemberley, suspect murder and are soon on the case. But is it possible they’ll upset even more people than Mrs Furzgate managed to?
With the subtlety of two bulls in a china shop, Churchill and Pemberley employ unconventional sleuthing techniques. What appears to be a shortcoming is actually a skill: being consistently underestimated enables them to spring a clever surprise.
One Summer
Down-and-out pastry chef Star Bloom has no choice but to swallow her pride and take a job at a mom and pop diner. But the goofy antics of a fellow waiter and the attentions of a sexy patron are starting to lift her sour mood. When her new friends help her land a spot on a televised cooking show, she’s hopeful it’ll be the big break she needs to open up her own bakery.
Tyler Jackman would rather be animating cartoons than waiting tables. But when a blue-eyed beauty joins the diner staff, he starts counting down the hours to his next shift. Determined to get out of the friend zone, he hatches a plan to launch her dreams into the spotlight. But as his crush preps for the bake-off, Tyler faces his own tough competition in the battle to win her heart.
The Closer I Get
Tom is a successful author, but he’s struggling to finish his novel. His main distraction is an online admirer, Evie, who simply won’t leave him alone.
Evie is smart, well read and unstable; she lives with her father and her social-media friendships are not only her escape, but everything she has.
When she’s hit with a restraining order, her world is turned upside down, and Tom is free to live his life again, to concentrate on writing.
But things aren’t really adding up. For Tom is distracted but also addicted to his online relationships, and when they take a darker, more menacing turn, he feels powerless to change things. Because maybe he needs Evie more than he’s letting on.
Lady Justice and the Living Trust
On his deathbed, the ninety-year-old former bookkeeper for the Kansas City mafia names Walt as the successor trustee on his Living Trust.
An unsuspecting Walt soon discovers that his duties include keeping an eye on the heirs who must complete some very specific tasks before claiming their inheritance. When things start to go south, Walt soon learns that the heirs will resort to anything, including murder, to get their hands on their grandfather’s money.
And Then She Was Gone
The silhouette stood at the edge of the woods like a spider watching a fly enter its carefully crafted web. Only a few more steps and she’d be within its grasp.
Stacy Shaw has her whole life ahead of her. New job, new house and now a baby on the way–everything she’s ever hoped for is finally coming true. But on a warm summer night on the way home from work, she vanishes. The police race to find her, but the clues don’t add up. Conflicting facts emerge as her story twists and turns, sending the trail spiraling in all directions.
A hometown hero with a heart of gold, Jack Stratton was raised in a whorehouse by his prostitute mother. Jack seemed destined to become another statistic, but now his life has taken a turn for the better. Determined to escape his past, he’s headed for a career in law enforcement. When his foster mother asks him to look into the girl’s disappearance, Jack quickly gets drawn into a baffling mystery. As Jack digs deeper, everyone becomes a suspect–including himself.
Murder is a Monkey’s Game
Madi is horrified when she witnesses a strange, fatal paragliding incident. But when her private detective boyfriend, Lowell, arrives on the scene, he recognises the dead man right away.
Does someone know about Lowell’s dark past that he shared with the victim?
Who are the man and woman – who turn up in the village wearing suits and asking questions – really working for?
All of a sudden, Lowell is on the list of suspects for a crime where the only witness to murder is a monkey.
The Birthday Mystery
Jenny Starling is catering the twenty-first birthday party of upper-class twins, Alicia and Justin.
She arrives at their parents’ country house and is immediately met by the police. A young man has drowned in the pond. Was it an accident or murder?
But the birthday party goes ahead. Then just after midnight, everyone gathers for a champagne toast . . . and one of the guests falls down dead. The police are baffled and there is a whole party full of suspects.
When it comes to someone adding the extra ingredient of poison to her own precious recipes, Jenny isn’t going to take it lying down. She has a reputation to protect.
If She Saw
Kate’s brilliant mind and unrivaled ability to enter the mind of serial killers is just too indispensable, and the FBI needs her to crack this baffling case. Why were two couples found murdered, 50 miles apart, and in the same manner? What can they possibly have in common?
The answer, Kate realizes, is urgent—as she is certain the killer is about to strike again.
But in the deadly game of cat and mouse that follows, Kate, entering the dark canals of the killer’s twisted mind, may just find herself a moment too late.
The Last Cabin
Life has hardened Joanna Mercer, and she has spent the past four years since her husband’s death preparing herself against the uncertainties of life. After an EMP destroys the nation’s power grid, every ounce of that strength will be tested.
$0.99
Someone Else’s Daughter
THE SEARCHING MOTHER
Miranda Steele.
Feisty. Independent. Skeptical.
Thirteen years ago her abusive husband stole her baby and gave it up for adoption.
She comes to Atlanta to find her daughter.
THE PI
Wade Parker.
Ace detective.
Wealthy owner of the Parker Investigative Agency.
The most eligible forty-four-year-old bachelor in Atlanta.
Still mourning the death of his socialite wife, he must solve a disturbing murder case.
Before the killer strikes again.
THE MURDERER
A serial killer strangling young girls in a bizarre ritual.
Why?
She doesn’t need a man.
He needs to find a killer.
Together, can they save a thirteen year old girl?
Ice Cream with a Side of Danger
A family tragedy. A chilling final conversation. A sleuth pushed to the brink. And ice cream. Lots of ice cream.
Sabrina Carlson hasn’t spoken to her father since they had a big falling out.
In fact, as time goes by, she wonders if she will ever see him again.
So, when her father turns up dead one morning, Sabrina is shaken to her core.
As much as she wants to take time to grieve, she knows that isn’t possible while a killer is on the loose.
Truthfully, Sabrina won’t be able to rest until her father’s killer is brought to justice.
Unfortunately, her dad had a knack for making enemies.
Dangerous Places
When teenager Heather Young disappeared from the small town of Himmel, Wisconsin, everyone believed her boyfriend Eric had killed her—though her body was never found. Twenty years later, Eric’s little sister Sammy returns to town. She begs her childhood friend, true crime writer Leah Nash, to prove her brother isn’t a murderer.
But Sammy has no new evidence, and her brother doesn’t want Leah’s help. Leah says no—but she can’t help feeling guilty about it. That feeling gets much worse when Sammy is killed in a suspicious car accident. It’s then that the independent, irreverent, unstoppable Leah takes up her cause. The investigation leads Leah to some dark and dangerous places, and a shocking personal connection to the crime.
Close to the Bone
FBI Special Agent Cate Wilde is back home on a remote Pacific Northwest island when she gets the call: a teenager’s skeletal remains have been found on a nearby island.
Together with Tessa Black, a childhood friend turned local deputy, Cate confronts dreary weather and bleak leads to make sense of the death. The complications pile up as Cate is distracted by the coroner on the case—and by nagging memories that draw her twenty years into the past.
The remains suggest eerie similarities between this victim, and Cate and Tessa’s friend Samantha, who disappeared when she was fourteen.
Books for PTSD Awareness Day
June 27 is PTSD Awareness Day.
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For millions of people around the world, the most traumatic events of their lives have never ended. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a lingering reminder that turns every day into a potential minefield, with flashbacks and triggers potentially hidden around every corner. (From https://www.personalizedcause.com/health-awareness-cause-calendar/ptsd-awareness-month)
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder are psychiatric disorders that can occur in people who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic event such as a natural disaster, a serious accident, a terrorist act, war/combat, rape or other violent personal assault.
Old names for this disorder are shell-shock and combat fatigue, but they occur in many more people than just war vets. Victims of domestic and sexual assault and first-responders are two other classes of people who may be affected. Even something like a car accident can result in flashbacks and other symptoms.
Symptoms
A more detailed listing of the signs and symptoms of PTSD is included in the resources listed below.
Symptoms of PTSD fall into four categories. Specific symptoms can vary in severity.
What Is Posttraumatic Stress Disorder?
Intrusive thoughts such as repeated, involuntary memories; distressing dreams; or flashbacks of the traumatic event. Flashbacks may be so vivid that people feel they are re-living the traumatic experience or seeing it before their eyes.
Avoiding reminders of the traumatic event may include avoiding people, places, activities, objects and situations that bring on distressing memories. People may try to avoid remembering or thinking about the traumatic event. They may resist talking about what happened or how they feel about it.
Negative thoughts and feelings may include ongoing and distorted beliefs about oneself or others (e.g., “I am bad,” “No one can be trusted”); ongoing fear, horror, anger, guilt or shame; much less interest in activities previously enjoyed; or feeling detached or estranged from others.
Arousal and reactive symptoms may include being irritable and having angry outbursts; behaving recklessly or in a self-destructive way; being easily startled; or having problems concentrating or sleeping.
Symptoms may occur immediately following the traumatic event(s) or may not appear until years later.
Some Resources
Signs and Symptoms of PTSDTips To Get Out Of A PTSD EpisodeTreatment and recoveryPTSD and Veteran’s Symptoms
Statistical prevalence
PTSD is a much more common disorder than previous studies have suggested, occurring throughout all age groups – including children under the age of one. The lifetime risk for developing PTSD in U.S. adults is 3.5%. The lifetime prevalence of PTSD is lower for those of European, African, Asian, and Latin American cultures at 0.5%-1.0%. Increased rates of PTSD are notable in those who have jobs that place them at risk for being a part of a traumatic event, such as police officers, nurses, and firefighters. The highest rates for PTSD occur among sexual assault survivors, military veterans who have been in combat, and survivors of genocide.
https://www.therefuge-ahealingplace.com/ptsd-treatment/effects-symptoms-signs/
Books about PTSD
I have gathered together some books, mostly fiction with characters with PTSD and/or written by authors dealing with PTSD.
Before I get into the fiction, I want to link to a book list of non-fiction books studying or about treating PTSD, and highlight one non-fiction book recommended to me by a friend.
Here is the non-fiction book list provided by Questia:
https://www.questia.com/library/psychology/mental-health/post-traumatic-stress-syndrome
Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving: A Guide and Map for Recovering from Childhood Trauma
A writer friend of mine recommended this book as the only practical guide to overcoming c-PTSD that he had been able to find. This was the book that helped him to start working through is c-PTSD issues.
Amazon description
I have Complex PTSD and wrote this book from the perspective of someone who has experienced a great reduction of symptoms over the years. I also wrote it from the viewpoint of someone who has discovered many silver linings in the long, windy, bumpy road of recovering from c-PTSD.
I felt encouraged to write this book because of thousands of e-mail responses to the articles on my website that repeatedly expressed gratitude for the helpfulness of my work. An often echoed comment sounded like this: At last someone gets it. I can see now that I am not bad, defective or crazy…or alone!
The causes of c-PTSD range from severe neglect to monstrous abuse. Many survivors grow up in houses that are not homes – in families that are as loveless as orphanages and sometimes as dangerous.
If you felt unwanted, unliked, rejected, hated and/or despised for a lengthy portion of your childhood, trauma may be deeply ingrained in your mind, soul and body.
This book is a practical, user-friendly self-help guide to recovering from the lingering effects of childhood trauma, and to achieving a rich and fulfilling life. It is copiously illustrated with examples of my own and my clients’ journeys of recovering. This book is also for those who do not have c-PTSD but want to understand and help a loved one who does.
Writing a lot of books about abuse, I tend to have a lot of characters with PTSD or c-PTSD. I don’t want to take up too much space with my own, so I will just mention a couple with details, with links to some others.
About Loose the Dogs
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Starting with a first responder with PTSD, I have Loose the Dogs:
You’ll never look at your dog the same way again.
Seven dogs are adopted by families all across the country who do not know their history…
“Of one thing I am sure,” Glenn declares. “These dogs are perfectly harmless.”
Frank knew it wasn’t true.
He would never forget walking into that trailer. He saw it in his mind every time he closed his eyes. He woke up in the middle of the night drenched in sweat, seeing those eyes and those teeth, screaming soundlessly, gasping for breath.
“He never saw those dogs. How could anyone make such a stupid decision, knowing what they did?”
Click the red button to buy direct, or find the store links here.
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$4.99
About Chloe
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The Between the Cracks series deals extensively with abuse, so you will see a lot of traumatic symptoms in all of them, but Chloe suffers particularly heinous abuse and has a lot of dissociation and depersonalization. She is helped by a child victims investigator (who is also at risk for PTSD with the cases he is exposed to on a daily basis) and an emotional support animal.
Chloe had always been the perfect daughter. Diligent, obedient, good at caring for the other children when Mom wasn’t home. She always worked hard and did everything she was asked.
But she couldn’t please her mother and the parade of stepfathers. It seemed like the harder she tried, the worse the abuse got.
Chloe had known for a long time that she was two people. The Chloe who watched and the Chloe who experienced. She had been watching for so long, she wasn’t sure she could feel anything anymore. But if she can’t overcome her past and start living in the real world, she knows she will lose herself forever.
Click the red button to buy direct, or find the store links here.
Placed on the In the Margins Committee Recommended Reads, 2018 by Library Services for Youth in Custody.
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$5.99
Other books of mine with PTSD/c-PTSD characters:
Private Investigator Zachary Goldman in the Zachary Goldman Private Investigator series.Don’t Forget StevenMaking Her MarkTamara in the Tamara’s Teardrops series
And more books
Murder on Perry’s Island
One terrible night Detective Sergeant Marcus Lear exchanged gunshots with a 16-year-old burglary suspect. The boy was left a paraplegic. Marcus suffered PTSD and could no longer bring himself to carry a gun. Forced to resign the job he loved, Marcus returned to his historic family home on Perry’s Island to try to put his life back together.
Marcus had grown up there listening to the police chief’s stories of crime solving in the city. The chief’s stories inspired Marcus to leave the island and become the youngest detective in PD’s history. Marcus’s childhood best friend had been Jenny Gibbons, the Chief’s daughter, who was now an Ohio Wildlife Officer assigned to the island’s state park. She is determined to help Marcus face his pain and to reestablish their relationship. As they return home from an evening out, Jenny learns that the wife of an island businessman has been brutally murdered.
With Chief Gibbons away for the night, a desperate Jenny turns to Marcus to use his experience to preserve the crime scene. Marcus refuses at first, unwilling to have anything to do with police work that might force him to re-live recent events. Finally, he gives in to her pleas and agrees to supervise the crime scene just until the Chief can take over. Despite himself, Marcus is drawn deeper into the investigation. When a witness identifies a youth camp chaperone as the last person to be with the victim before her death, Marcus believes the man’s story of innocence.
Marcus is proven correct when the elderly housekeeper who helped raise him is left for dead in his own house and the historic mansion set on fire. The attack provides a personal aspect to the case that drives him to narrow down the suspects. Marcus’s single-minded pursuit of the killer while fighting his personal demons might cost him his own life!
What Happened to Lori
Three people.
Each has a secret.
Each has an agenda.
All three are liars.
One of them committed a terrible crime.
One of them is on the run.
More than one of them is a killer.
These three people are about to find out what happened to Lori.
And they’re going to wish they never did…
Crawford Hill
Protagonist with PTSD, written by an author dealing with PTSD.
Derek Crawford smiles pleasantly at the anger management counselor as the voices in his head beckon him into spiraling madness.
A burned-out and now unemployed child psychologist, Derek lives alone in the Victorian mansion on Crawford Hill. From his great-grandmother’s widow’s walk on the fourth floor he can watch the lights of Centerville blinking on as the sun sets over Lake
St. Clair.
From the basement he can enter his great-grandfather’s network of caves, and prowl beneath the homes of the unsuspecting town.
As he nears his 29th birthday, one voice is getting louder. More persistent. It’s the gravelly voice
of his old man, dead a dozen years but no less demanding than when he whipped his belt across Derek’s back.
Broken Monarch
In 1979 Glenn is a chef at the Silver Lake Inn when his experiences of lost time become inhabited by a violent and dangerous part of himself he doesn’t know.
A week before the First Lady of The United States visit to the restaurant, he meets Lindsey who holds the key to understanding what’s happening.
The clock is ticking as he uncovers the mystery of their shared past, his part in Project Monarch and the plot to kill the First Lady.
In the Canyon of Shadow and Light
In the bitter winter of 2004, New York Homicide Detective Alex Boswell finds himself juggling a trio of cases. There is the armed robbery of a Harlem grocery store, an autistic child dead in a care home, and an assistant district attorney found shot in an Upper West Side apartment.
Already a tattered veteran of the NYPD, Boswell is a man beset: the combined weight of his caseload and personal life grinding him down and destroying his health. Soon darker shadows and flashes of his past begin plaguing him, and he is terrified reality is crumbling away, while the criminal justice system itself seems ever more absurd and bewildering.
Murder Ready to Eat
This one features a murder victim with PTSD and the plight of homeless vets.
Crime fighting foodie, Scotti Fitzgerald, has found her sweet spot in life – running her dessert food truck by day and sleuthing for P.I. and mentor, Joe Enders, by night.
During the week she and wise-cracking sidekick Zelda, ramble around the San Fernando Valley hawking their home baked goods. They end their week by taking the left-over goodies to a few homeless vets who gather at the local park.
While working a boring divorce case for Joe, the girls stumble upon a connection between their target and the vets in the park. So when homeless buddy Ron, turns up dead a couple days later, Scotti’s inner investigator cries foul. The more she digs into Ron’s death, the more a mysterious person named Jody pops up. And though her relentless pursuit of justice for Ron puts a strain on her personal relationships she can’t seem to stop herself.
Past Aghast
This series features a main character with chronic, severe PTSD and is being developed into a TV series.
Is he the killer they say he is… or is he being framed?
Even Jack isn’t certain. While deployed to Iraq, Jack helplessly witnessed his true love, Major Lori Darden, RN, being ruthlessly murdered. Jack is left emotionally traumatized with severe PTSD and the Army forces him to retire. Jack’s PTSD flashbacks sometimes leave him unaware of his actions while under the influence of his unwelcome mental demon.
As the new Chairman of Anesthesia at Southern Medical Center, Jack thought he’d retired into the tame civilian job he’d dreamed of, but a series of bizarre murders and deaths have occurred at Southern Medical Center. Because of his mental health issues Jack becomes a person of interest and is swept into the investigation.
But an anonymous tipster helps Jack understand there’s something much more sinister going on than what he’s become aware of.
Red Hot
PTSD put her behind a desk. Now her new desk job might get her killed.
Fresh from the Afghan front, ex-military Emily Patrick is sent to the Mexican coast south of San Diego to extract an injured American firefighter.
But she’s not the only one looking for him.
And when her support system goes AWOL, things escalate quickly.
Now they’re outrunning the local cartel and to get them both out alive may just take a miracle. And a whole lot of bullets.
Rothaker
It takes the perfect student to commit the perfect crime.
Brooke Walton is a thriving medical student at Rothaker University, until she has a serious conflict with Rachael, a rival classmate. When Rachael mysteriously disappears, detectives descend on campus and the hunt for the truth begins.
Warning: this is a DARK thriller. Brooke Walton is brilliant, ambitious, and twisted.
365 Marks on the Wall
One bad decision leads to consequences that Lila couldn’t begin to fathom.
It was just a tube of lipstick. Lila didn’t think too much about it when she slipped it into her pocket at the mall. When a man grabbed her arm and accused her of shoplifting, her only thought was for the trouble she was going to be in with her parents over one stupid impulse.
But then she woke up chained to the wall in a dank, dark cellar.
In growing panic, she begins to understand the hell her world has just become.
Soon she won’t be the only one imprisoned in that cellar… but is that a good thing? Or will it just make everything worse? Can Lila survive the abuse and the torture? Will the other girls be strong enough to survive what Lila has already lived through?
Warning: contain some pretty serious abuse/dissociating/near death experiences
Rock-a-Bye Baby
An aunt’s worst nightmare…
In the city of Denver, a series of baby kidnappings has the town devastated. With no ransom demands and no contact from the perpetrators, local law enforcement is at a dead end. No motive equals no answers.
A cop’s personal obsession…
Charlene Taylor’s niece becomes a victim, and the LAPD detective is thrown headfirst into a whirlwind case with similarities to one from seven years earlier. Out of her jurisdiction, and with no friends or leads, Charlene must walk-the-line between cop and sister.
Who can she trust?
Charlene has to decide who’s an ally, and when an unlikely partner steps forward, they must race against the clock: because that critical 48 hour window has come and gone.
Read an Excerpt
Any other recommendations? Let me know in the comments below!
June 25, 2019
Savage Art
FBI profiler Casey McKinley survived a brutal attack by the notorious serial killer known as “Leonardo” for his penchant for dissecting his victims as DaVinci once did human cadavers; now he’s back and she must catch this clever killer before he can unveil his ultimate masterpiece—her.
Savage Art is part of the Do No Harm collection, which is now available for preorder!
HBS Spotlight Author Interview
Do No Harm
Excerpt from The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window And Disappeared
Did you catch my new release on Friday? If not, hop on over to my post to pick up Vegan Baked Alaska and some of the other new releases that I featured.
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 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window And Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson. This is not like most of the other books that I have read. The book that I have read that it is most similar to is Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. Or maybe Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy set in WWII Europe. It is the ridiculous adventure of an audacious Swede who runs into trouble and makes new friends at every turn. Both jinxed and charmed, you never know what’s going to happen to Allan Karlsson next. (And by the looks of the rest of Jonasson’s covers, they all have a similar bent.)
Allan sat on the newly stolen suitcase, not knowing what to say and in any case lacking the energy to say it. But he looked steadily at the man, letting him make the first move.
Jonas Jonasson, The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window and Disappeared
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After a long and eventful life, Allan Karlsson ends up in a nursing home, believing it to be his last stop. The only problem is that he’s still in good health, and one day, he turns 100. A big celebration is in the works, but Allan really isn’t interested (and he’d like a bit more control over his alcohol consumption). So he decides to escape. He climbs out the window in his slippers and embarks on a hilarious and entirely unexpected journey.
It would be the adventure of a lifetime for anyone else, but Allan has a larger-than-life backstory: Not only has he witnessed some of the most important events of the twentieth century, he has actually played a key role in them. Quirky and utterly unique, The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared has charmed readers across the world.
June 20, 2019
Enjoy Vegan Baked Alaska and these other great reads!
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The day you have been waiting for has come! Vegan Baked Alaska, book 9 of the Auntie Clem’s Bakery mystery series is out!
Erin needs a little break from everything that has been happening in Bald Eagle Falls (you can only be subjected to so many murders, thefts, fires, and threats before it gets to be a bit much.) She ends up on a cruise to Alaska, far from civilization and criminal conspiracies, where the biggest problem should be that she wasn’t expecting it to be a vegan cruise.
“At least you won’t be stumbling over any bodies on an Alaskan cruise,” Mary Lou had said. But Mary Lou couldn’t have been more wrong.
Sparking an international incident wasn’t quite what Erin had planned for her relaxing vacation, but she is determined to prove that she saw what she did and to bring the culprits to justice.
Read sample
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Other new releases
Looking for some other great new reads? Have a look at what else is out!
Like a Bad Penny
Meredith Brady doesn’t just hunt ghosts; she broadcasts her adventures on the internet. The good, the bad, and the ghoulish, streaming live and in color to thousands of subscribers.
When Meredith and her team of ghost hunters take on a case in the tiny town of Oak Cliff, Georgia, they don’t expect anything out of the ordinary, just a ghost in a white dress that may or may not be related to a missing persons investigation. But this case is unlike anything Meredith has taken on before. Oak Cliff is a town awash in mysteries and lies, and the spirit Meredith’s searching for may not be the only one haunting the MacIver mansion.
Determined to unearth the truth, Meredith and her team dig their way through layers of mysteries and strange occurrences, getting closer to the truth—and real danger. Because it’s becoming clear that someone, or something, wants the past to stay buried, at any cost, and Meredith’s search for the truth just might get her and her team killed.
Drowning Lessons
Welcome to Bocas del Toro, a remote chain of islands off the Caribbean coast of Panama. Five days of glorious sun and lush rainforest await the forty guests celebrating Bridezilla Olivia’s dream wedding—but will a murder sink the catered affair? Before anyone’s got time to start working on a tan, an unfortunate snorkeling accident eliminates a member of the wedding party. Maid of honor Lexie Marino smells trouble, and is thrust into the responsibility of investigating, needing to solve the case before her bestie’s trip down the aisle gets tropically derailed. The show must go on.
Lexie’s a little too tall, a little too awkward, and a little too brokenhearted, but she’s determined to nail the real killer. Can this unlikely sleuth stay afloat as she’s hit by wave after wave of wildly entertaining characters, including an alpha bride, surfing detectives, and a high school flame long forgotten?
You’ll find yourself laughing until the very end of Drowning Lessons, a debut cozy mystery that makes the perfect beach read. Rub in some coconut oil, dangle your feet in the crystal-blue waters of Dolphin Bay, and sip a cool drink as Lexie discovers the deductive superpowers she never knew she had. Let the party begin!
Wrong Side of the Claw
When a string of robberies escalates to murder, Willa is baffled by the behavior of her sister, the county sheriff. Normally the gung-ho lawwoman would be all over the case, but she seems more interested in doing her nails and picking out jazz music instead.
Willa has no choice but to take it upon herself to investigate. After all, her sister’s reputation is at stake, and a killer is running loose around town. Plus she has a secret weapon—she can see ghosts. Talking to the spirit of a murder victim usually helps solve the case, but not this time. This ghost seems reluctant to help Willa out. Even her boyfriend, neighboring county sheriff Eddie Striker, can’t get the spirit of the victim to give them a straight answer.
But things are even worse than they seem. Pandora and the cats of Mystic Notch know the real reason behind the crime goes a lot deeper than robbery or even murder. Someone has evil plans for Mystic Notch, and the cats need Willa’s help to stop them.
The Teatime Mystery
Jenny Starling is doing the catering for the village cricket match. But she’s not expecting one of the players to turn up dead.
Everyone from the village has turned out to watch the match, and with this being the club’s centenary, Jenny Starling has been hired specially to provide her stunning food for the event.
Then the next man up to bat, Tristan Jones, is nowhere to be found. He is discovered behind the pavilion, murdered by a blow to the back of the head with an old cricket bat.
The handsome twenty-something had a reputation as a Lothario, with an appetite for married women. Did a scorned woman or a cuckolded husband kill him?
However, he’d annoyed other people too. He was a stockbroker who took big risks with other people’s money and lost their lifesavings.
Soon another body turns up and Jenny Starling is going to need all her cunning to crack this complex case.
Tales of a Blackened Soul
London was on the hunt. Her intention was to kill.
London De La Motte is not a believer in religion or religiosity. She never found a use for it, considering her troubled past and no place for it in her life as a private investigator. An encounter with a statue in a historic Catholic Church sets London on a path of psychic vision and vigilante justice; righting injustices from the past and present.
What she didn’t know is that her brush with Saint Cecilia’s graven image was far from accidental. It was destiny; conjured by Mama Bah, a voodoo high priestess some twenty-five years before. London’s world is rocked by this newfound giftedness. The question is, what will she do when the past and present come crashing down around her.
The Candidate Coroner
Two contentious elections. One dead philanderer. A monumental conspiracy.
In the midst of Acting Coroner Fenway Stevenson’s reelection campaign, the body of a successful business owner is found in a pedestrian underpass—and she discovers that her young, hated stepmother is the prime suspect. As if that’s not bad enough, further digging only exposes a money-laundering scheme that could implicate dozens of residents in the coastal town she calls home.
Each clue she uncovers puts her in more danger. After an attempt on her life, and with more bodies piling up, how will Fenway solve the mystery, win the election—or simply save her own life?
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Murder at the Old Abbey
White Monk Abbey is a local landmark and its resident patriarch, Caradoc Mansell, a foreboding presence. He runs his household and family as if he is still in the army. And he’s been known for rubbing people up the wrong way.
So, when he is found murdered, the challenge Chief Inspector Matt Lambert of the Newport police faces is that many people had a powerful grudge or good reason to want him dead.
And when it is discovered that Caradoc had children from dalliances in his youth, his family also fall under suspicion – their substantial inheritance having been put in doubt.
With so many suspects and little evidence, DCI Lambert finds it difficult to progress the investigation. The family go to ground, so he draws on the advice of his former boss, ex-detective Fabia Havard.
Knowing the family, Havard helps Lambert establish motive and opportunity. But will their fractious relationship, the result of repressed feelings for one another, get in the way of finding the killer?
Cupid in Crisis
Description for this block. Use this space for describing Booker is a loner … at least in most respects. He has friends but is perfectly fine being a man of mystery. There’s one exception to that rule: June Seaver.
Booker volunteers to help her around her aging hotel in the heart of Moonstone Bay’s business district whenever he can spare the time. On one of those visits, the older woman takes a spill and finds herself in the hospital … at the exact worst time.
It seems she has a modeling shoot scheduled at her facility and it’s enough money to keep her operation running smoothly for at least a year. All that goes away if she’s not there.
It’s Booker to the rescue, of course, but he’s won’t be doing it alone. Sheriff Galen Blackwood and local witch Hadley Hunter are helping. That’s good, because it seems there’s a mystery afoot.
Someone keeps tearing apart the storage rooms and even attacks the photo shoot director. It’s up to Booker and his motley group of heroes to solve the case, keep the shoot on schedule and hunt down a potential killer.your block.
Kiss & Tell
With the death of her father…
Officer Charlene Taylor has received her dream promotion—working Homicide with the LAPD. Her first case is the high-profile murder of Ken Anderson, a playboy UCLA professor with a haunted past. A mafia kingpin, billionaire tycoon, cheated wife and jaded lover are only a few on a long list of suspects, all with motive and opportunity.
…all hope of reconciliation is lost.
Not only does she feel the pressure from media and her boss to solve her first case, but Charlene must also deal with her father’s murderer, the “Celebrity Slayer,” a serial killer who enjoys baiting her with his knowledge of her life and routines.
Spilling the Spice
When shady entrepreneurs slink into Spicetown to splurge on the 4th of July holiday, their enemies are bound to follow.
Mayor Cora Mae Bingham wants her statue dedication to take center stage at the celebration, but a murder in Spicetown steals the front page news.
Can she help the Police Chief Conrad Harris solve the crime and still be Grand Marshall of the parade?
The road to Infinity
Poised on the brink of manhood, young Aran Dyfar makes a rash and momentous decision that will either elevate him to glory or seal his doom. Obsessed since childhood with finding the legendary Road to Infinity, he forsakes his comfortable home and the love of beautiful Elfwina Catlix to embark on a quest through demon-haunted forests and forbidding wastelands in pursuit of his destiny.
Perilous encounters with magical beings and human adversaries compel Aran to hone the skills of a warrior. Though tormented by memories of his beloved Elfwina, he presses onward. When at last he finds the Road to Infinity, he confronts an unexpected challenge that will test the limits of his courage and guile.
Transatlantic Tragedy
The “Siren of the Seas” sets sail for the much anticipated transatlantic repositioning cruise to the British Isles. It’s smooth sailing until someone falls overboard. Millie jumps in head first to determine if the passenger’s death was an accident, suicide or murder.
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Penshaw
When you sell your soul, the devil gives no refunds…
When an old man is burned alive in a sleepy ex-mining village, Detective Chief Inspector Ryan is called in to investigate. He soon discovers that, beneath the facade of a close-knit community, the burn from decades-old betrayal still smoulders. When everyone had a motive, can he unravel the secrets of the past before the killer strikes again?
Meanwhile, back at Northumbria CID, trouble is brewing with rumours of a mole in Ryan’s department.
Web of Deceit
The crime made no sense.
Nothing was stolen, only burned.
The truth was worse than they imagined.
For Nick and Alex, the job always came first. They weren’t afraid of a scrap or two, if it was needed. Never back down was the motto. This time, though, it feels different.
There were signs.
When you have a list of enemies as long as a CVS receipt, there’s bound to be someone who wants you dead.
Snow White and the Seven Murders
What if Snow White had to save the prince? As a business reporter for the Dayton City Newspaper, Snow White tries to stick to the facts and stay out of trouble. But when research for an article leads to suspicions that a killer is on the loose, she can’t help but investigate. A local mine owner is dead. Could the owner of a rival company be to blame? Snow’s snooping pays off, and soon she’s chasing down hot clues — and an even hotter prince. Amir Malick, prince of Qu’abar, is handsome, smart, funny and kind. Is he next on the killer’s list? It’s up to Snow to save him…
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Kitsuneko
Trouble is brewing in the realms beyond the rainbow …
Kitsuneko has always done her best to honor her duty. As a young fox-cat changeling, she was conscripted into slavery by King Dario and Queen Arianna of Toulacoeur to serve as the surrogate for Princess Cari, their daughter who was kidnapped seventeen years ago.
But when Kiro, Cari’s younger brother and the heir to the throne, proclaims his love for her, Kitsuneko is torn between her duty to the kingdom and her desire for the virtuous prince.
And when Kiro’s kisses leave her breathless, Kitsuneko finds herself — and the kingdom — in mortal danger.
For the peace that Toulacoeur enjoys, maintained through the blessing of Kleon, the Unicorn Guardian, is at risk, and to maintain their rule, the king and queen have arranged for Kiro to marry Ariella, a Warlord’s daughter from a tribe of Gryphon Riders.
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Shallow Waters
A sleepy Oregon coastal village with secrets as dark as its January storms. A new, handsome police chief with his own shadowy past.
The last thing Port Stirling Chief of Police Matt Horning needed on day one of his new job was for the mayor’s daughter to turn up dead – stabbed to death – in a mysterious tunnel on a remote Oregon beach. Horning, escaping professional troubles in Texas, accepts the vacant job in Port Stirling, Oregon, looking for a fresh start in what he thought would be a peaceful coastal town where the far west meets the mighty Pacific Ocean. Nothing much ever happens here…or does it?
The crime doesn’t make any sense, and there is no apparent motive for the murder of little Emily Bushnell. She wasn’t sexually assaulted, her family is respected in the small community where everyone knows everyone, and there doesn’t appear to be a reason for her death. Human bite marks on Emily’s body discovered by the medical examiner during the autopsy add an even stranger twist to the puzzling homicide.
Destination Roswell
On a planet far, far, far away, the advanced inhabitants of Ch’un face an event of apocalyptic proportions. Total and overwhelming invasion by un unseen yet indestructible enemy. A singleton’s Ch’uni ship manages to flee their system before succumbing to the onslaught and escape for the far regions of the Great Spiral Galaxy and the small solar system at the edge which houses the blue planet: their destination.
Will they arrive in one piece?
Will the natives of the blue planet accept them?
Are the really free of the invasive form that travels the known Universe in search of worlds to conquer?
Fatal Justice
A vigilante’s on the loose, dishing out their kind of justice…
A string of mutilated bodies sees Detective Chief Inspector Whitney Walker back in action. But when she discovers the victims have all been grooming young girls, she fears a vigilante is on the loose. And while she understands the motive, no one is above the law.
Once again, she turns to forensic psychologist, Dr Georgina Cavendish, to unravel the cryptic clues. But will they be able to save the next victim from a gruesome death?
Outcome
Outcome, a Novel by multi-award winning and Amazon best-selling author Barbara Ebel.
A woman and her dog flee for their lives during a major hurricane, but what happens next is far worse.
Outcome is part of the Do No Harm collection, which is now available for preorder!
Do No Harm
June 18, 2019
Excerpt from A Study in Scarlet Women
I hope you had a good Father’s Day and picked up a book or two from my Father’s Day post.
Be sure to check back here this weekend for the new release of Vegan Baked Alaska.
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme. Read the rules and more teasers at The Purple Booker. Anyone can play along.
I am reading Sherry Thomas’s A Study in Scarlet Women, which is a retelling/twist on the Sherlock Holmes mysteries. In Thomas’s version, Sherlock Holmes is a nom de guerre for Charlotte Holmes, and Dr. Watson is actually Mrs. Watson, her patron. It’s an interesting look at the life of women in England at that time, as well as seeing how Thomas establishes Charlotte as Sherlock Holmes.
He had never heard of Sherlock Holmes, but more importantly, he despised the idea of death. Of his death, to be precise—others could die as they wished.
A Study in Scarlet Women, Sherry Thomas
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With her inquisitive mind, Charlotte Holmes has never felt comfortable with the demureness expected of the fairer sex in upper class society. But even she never thought that she would become a social pariah, an outcast fending for herself on the mean streets of London.
When the city is struck by a trio of unexpected deaths and suspicion falls on her sister and her father, Charlotte is desperate to find the true culprits and clear the family name. She’ll have help from friends new and old—a kind-hearted widow, a police inspector, and a man who has long loved her.
But in the end, it will be up to Charlotte, under the assumed name Sherlock Holmes, to challenge society’s expectations and match wits against an unseen mastermind.
June 13, 2019
Father’s Day Books and Deals
There are a lot of things going on this month, but I decided this week to focus on Father’s Day and bring you a few books to check out. If you’re quick, there is still time to order on Amazon Prime or run over to your nearest brick and mortar book store!
And there are always ebooks, which are an instant buy, if your dad enjoys ebooks or you want a little something for yourself.
Kids books for Dad’s Day
First off, here are a few favorites or books that look like good Father’s Day reads:
Just Me and My Dad
This one was a favorite around our hose growing up.
Mercer Mayer’s Little Critter is going on a camping trip with his dad in this classic, funny, and heartwarming book. Whether he and his dad are canoeing, fishing, or building a campfire, parents and children alike will relate to this beloved story. A perfect gift for Father’s Day… or any day!
I Love Dad with The Very Hungry Caterpillar
I’ve read The Very Hungry Caterpillar, but not this one. Gotta love that caterpillar.
Show Dad how much you care with this little message of love from The Very Hungry Caterpillar!
Celebrate Dad’s special day by saying “I Love You”–with a little help from The Very Hungry Caterpillar. This bright and colorful book is the ideal way to tell the person you call “Dad” how much you appreciate him. It’s the perfect gift for Father’s Day, Dad’s birthday, or any day that you want to show Dad just how much you care.
Hop on Pop
If you’re looking for one the littles can read to Dad, here’s a good bet.
This classic Beginner Book makes an ideal gift for Seuss fans and is an especially good way to show Pop some love on Father’s Day!
Loved by generations, this “simplest Seuss for youngest use” is a Beginner Book classic. See Red and Ned and Ted and Ed in a bed. And giggle as Pat sits on a hat and on a cat and on a bat . . . but a cactus? Pat must NOT sit on that! This classic Beginner Book makes an ideal gift for Seuss fans and is an especially good way to show Pop some love on Father’s Day!
Originally created by Dr. Seuss, Beginner Books encourage children to read all by themselves, with simple words and illustrations that give clues to their meaning.
The Night Before Father’s Day
I don’t know this one, but it looks pretty cute.
It’s the night before Father’s Day, and Mom and the kids have a plan to surprise Dad with a special gift. When Dad goes for a bike ride, everyone gets to work. Dad wakes up the next day to find his garage newly organized and his car sparkly clean. So, of course, he celebrates by taking everyone for a spin!
Dad Jokes
The perfect gift for dads and pun-lovers alike!
“Dad, can you put my shoes on?”
“No, I don’t think they’ll fit me.”
Ah, the dad joke―humor that reminds us of all the lovable, embarrassing dads out there. Be prepared for the obvious, silly, and awkward in this massive collection of the best groan-worthy dad jokes around, including clever quips, overly literal dialogue, and punny one-liners.
These jokes may be on porpoise, but they will definitely make you laugh:
I used to hate facial hair, but then it started growing on me.
I’m reading a book about anti-gravity. It’s impossible to put down!
Q: What’s the hardest thing about learning to ride a bicycle?
A: The road.
With over 600 knee-slappers, head-shakers, and groan-makers, Dad Jokes is packed with enough witty quips and cheesy-but-grate jokes for you to hold your own against even the most embarrassing of dads. But remember―you don’t have to be a dad to tell dad jokes!
More recommendations
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Today has a long list of books that your dad might enjoy.
Free ebooks for Father’s Day
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This promo doesn’t open until Saturday, but you can pick up a stack of ebooks with father themes, including Making Her Mark.
About Making Her Mark
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Secrets and lies.
When everything changed, Kelli thought she would be happy. But nothing really changed.
Kelli’s life has never been easy. She’s always faced her problems head on. She’s strong and savvy and in charge of herself. All of that is about to change.
Her life is turned upside down when she discovers the secret that her mother has been hiding from her for years.
Kelli thinks this is her one chance at happiness. But is it?
Maya Hope
Maya Hope by Timothy Browne
Dr. Nicklaus Hart, a gifted trauma surgeon, searches for meaning in his life. His self-reliant spirit is broken with the death of his missionary best friend, found sacrificed at the base of a Maya Temple. Going to Guatemala to fill the shoes of his friend at the mission hospital, he discovers God’s redemption and peace in the smiles of the children he cares for.
But his own life is in danger as he and his team stumble onto a deadly North Korean plot.
Maya Hope is part of the Do No Harm collection, which is now available for preorder!
Do No Harm
June 11, 2019
Excerpt from Golden Prey
Hope you had a chance to pick up Apple-achian Treasure and some other freebies this weekend! There was some good stuff in my freebies post, and some of them might still be available.
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme. Read the rules and more teasers at The Purple Booker. Anyone can play along.
This week I am just finishing up Golden Prey, by John Sandford. Before I go too far… this one is more graphic than the books that I usually mention on my blog. It involves both torture and the killing of a little girl, so be warned before you pick it up. So, that aside, this is an engaging thriller with more twists and turns than a bag of Twizzlers. The criminals are smart, and so are the federal marshal and agents on their tails. It is a great game of cat and mouse, and while the feds are bound to win in the end, I’m not quite sure how.
“There’ll be one outside, three inside, they all got guns,” Darling said. “I’ve watched them for three months, always the same.”
John Sandford, Golden Prey
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The man was smart and he didn’t mind killing people. Welcome to the big leagues, Davenport.
Thanks to some very influential people whose lives he saved, Lucas is no longer working for the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, but for the U.S. Marshals Service, and with unusual scope. He gets to pick his own cases, whatever they are, wherever they lead him.
And where they’ve led him this time is into real trouble. A Biloxi, Mississippi, drug-cartel counting house gets robbed, and suitcases full of cash disappear, leaving behind five bodies, including that of a six-year-old girl. Davenport takes the case, which quickly spirals out of control, as cartel assassins, including a torturer known as the “Queen of home-improvement tools” compete with Davenport to find the Dixie Hicks shooters who knocked over the counting house. Things get ugly real fast, and neither the cartel killers nor the holdup men give a damn about whose lives Davenport might have saved; to them, he’s just another large target.
