Monday, January 28, 2013

'Byzantine Gold' by Chris Karlsen Blurb Biltz Tour


Byzantine Gold
by Chris Karlsen

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BLURB:

A sunken warship from the Byzantine Era carrying an unusual cargo of gold has been found off the coast of Northern Cyprus. News of the valuable cache has attracted the attention of a terrorist cell. They plan to attack the recovery team’s campsite and steal the artifacts. On the Black Market, the sale of the relics will buy them additional weapons.

Charlotte Dashiell, an American archaeologist, and her lover, Atakan Vadim, a Turkish government agent, are scheduled to be part of the recovery team that brings up the artifacts. While en route to Cyprus, they find themselves caught in the crosshairs of Maksym Tischenko, a Ukrainian contract killer bent on revenge. Charlotte, Atakan and Tischenko share a grim history. As a result, Tischenko is a man who will stop at nothing to achieve his goal—seeing them both dead.
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Read an excerpt:
Atakan didn’t answer as he sped out of camp, spraying dirt and stones behind them.

What’s going on? Why are you in such a hurry?”

He stared straight ahead, silent.

Atakan?”

Tight-jawed, he continued down the side road that paralleled the beach, ramming the stick shift into place as he went through the gears and ignoring her questions. She’d never seen him this tense, not with her at least. A bad feeling crept over her. She had a sick sense his mood involved her plan to leave.

They’d gone a kilometer from the camp when he came to a stop. He hopped out, slammed the driver’s door shut and came to her side.

Opening her door, he said, “Get out.”

She did.

Atakan,” Charlotte started to ask the same questions again, but he was already turned and walking toward the sea.

She followed. He finally stopped near the water’s edge with his back to the surf and faced her. She stopped a couple of yards away.

When were you going to tell me?”

She knew exactly what he was asking about. Who told him? It wasn’t Nick. He’d honor the twenty-four hour rule.

Who told you?”

That’s not an answer.” He stood still as a statue, arms crossed, feet apart.

She hesitated, trying to choose her words so he’d understand and not be hurt. She gazed out at the incoming tide. The blue-green waves, effervescent with bubbles, rushed toward shore in rapid succession. White foam droplets filled the air as they crested, framing him like a new, angry version of Poseidon.

Answer me.”

Today.”

You weren’t going to tell me until today, although you’ve been planning to leave me for awhile.”

Not awhile.”

Long enough to send job inquiries to several museums.”

So that was how he knew. One of the museums contacted MIAR and they must’ve sent the questionnaire to Refik and he told Atakan. She hadn’t considered the possibility. She’d thought any contact from the museums would be handled by MIAR’s headquarters.

I’m so sorry you had to find out this way. I intended to tell you if it looked like I’d definitely leave. If none of the museums showed interest, then you never had to know what I’d done.”

And you believe that is acceptable?”

It killed her to see the look of disgust on his face with the question. “Yes...” she said low.

Why?”

Because I’m bad luck for you—everyone can see it, even your--, it’s obvious. There’s something about me, and God knows, I don’t know what, but I’m like a magnet for Tischenko.”

She never cried and she wouldn’t cry now, but she was close. “I can’t bear to see you hurt again, or worse. There are people that bad luck follows, even Iskender thinks so.”

Atakan inhaled deeply and let out a slow breath. Uncrossing his arms, he closed the short distance to where she stood.

It’s not forever,” she offered, “I’ll return.”

He shook his head. “If you go, you cannot return. You’re either in my life or out of my life. There’s no in between.”

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Buy links: Paperback \ Kindle

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Chris is a retired police detective. She spent twenty-five years in the law enforcement with two different agencies.

The daughter of a history professor and a voracious reader, she grew up with a love for history and books.

She has traveled extensively throughout Europe, the Near East, and Northern Africa satisfying her passion for seeing the places she read about.

A Chicago native, Chris has lived in Paris, Los Angeles, and now resides with her husband, and five rescue dogs in the Pacific Northwest.


http://pinterest.com/chriskarlsen/byzantine-gold/

Chris will award one randomly drawn commenter at every stop an ebook copy of Golden Chariot, and one randomly drawn commenter will be awarded a $50 Amazon gift card during the tour. Follow the tour for more chances to win!

19 comments:

  1. Promising premise, is it a stand alone? Charlotte and Atakan are together, so I wondered if there was a story how they've met?

    lennasclous AT gmail DOT com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Good morninng,
    I want to thank Andrea for inviting me here today and for the opportunity to share details on my book.
    I look forward to talking with Andi's followers.
    Chris Karlsen

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Lena,
    Byzantine Gold is a sequel but also a stand alone. Golden Chariot is book one in this series and it is the story of how Charlotte and Atakan meet. That too is a romantic thriller. You can see a trailer for it and a blurb and excerpt on my website: www.chriskarlsen.com. I have book boards for all my novels on my Pinterest page: http://pinterest.com/chriskarlsen. The boards are fun because I get to use my "dream" cast for the characters:)
    Have a super day,
    Chris K.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sounds interesting! Looking forward to find out more about Charlotte and her adventures!

    shadowrunner1987(at)gmail(dot)com

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  5. Sounds so exciting. Really liked the excerpt.

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  6. Hi Ami,
    I enjoyed bringing the relationship between Charlotte and Atakan in Golden Chariot from one of wariness to one of trust and love. In Byzantine Gold, they've been together for a year and I liked showing how the relationship has grown.

    In both books her brother, Nick, has a part and so does Atakan's friend, Iskender. Down the road, I may try to put the two of them in a book as the joint heroes, working together:)
    Chris K.

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  7. Hello again MomJane,

    How nice of you to come by and talk to me today. Glad you liked the excerpt. Check out the trailer or my pinterest page (link shown on earlier reply) and see what you think of my choice for Tischenko.
    Chris

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  8. This book sounds 12 different kinds of good! I'm looking forward to it!

    justforswag(AT)yahoo(DOT)com

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    Replies
    1. Hi Chelsea,
      Thank you. What a nice compliment.
      Chris

      Delete
  9. Oh wow I'll have to check that Pinterest page. I loved your choices for Charlotte and Atakan!

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    Replies
    1. Hi Leah,
      Thank you. I think Stana Katic is so lovely and not in the standard flashy Hollywood way. I've like Oded Fehr since I first saw him in The Mummy;0
      Chris

      Delete
  10. Very nice excerpt.

    bn100candg(at)hotmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  11. Sunken treasure, & ancient sunken treasure at that, is such a draw for me. It's right there is the title.

    marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com

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    Replies
    1. Hi Mary,
      I'm having fun weaving in the history with these last two books. I actually weave in a fair amount of medieval history in my other series.
      Chris

      Delete
  12. Thanks for the giveaway. Loved your first book.

    booksaremagicblogspot at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  13. Good excerpt - good tension and emotion in it.

    strive4bst(At) yahoo(Dot) com

    ReplyDelete
  14. Very interesting.

    sherryfundin69 at netscape dot net

    ReplyDelete

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