The Woods of Hitchcock by Ann W. Jarvie

 

Today we welcome award-winning author Ann W. Jarvie to Andi's Book Reviews. She's sharing with us her journey to becoming a writer as well as an excerpt from her new psychological thriller The Woods of Hitchcock. Enjoy both before you download your own copy. Then be sure to follow the tour for even more. Best of luck entering the giveaway!

The Woods of Hitchcock by award-winning author Ann W. Jarvie is a thriller about a psychically gifted Chicago copywriter and victim of violence who returns to South Carolina's equestrian country to solve a riddle involving murder, the metaphysical and the secrets of her eccentric family.

Suzanne Clayborn is a psychically gifted southerner working in her dream job in Chicago, which also conveniently takes her away from the ghosts of her past. But when she's nearly killed, she realizes all she wants is to return home to her eccentric family, her horse and the one place she feels safe: Hitchcock Woods, an enchanting equestrian forest in South Carolina.

But instead of finding solace, Suzanne becomes entangled in a murder spree, while stumbling upon an old manuscript, written by her sage grandmother. As she explores it, Suzanne uncovers a tome of long-buried family haunts and ancient metaphysical secrets offering healing and inspiration. She also begins to understand her unwanted psychic abilities, especially after meeting a mysterious stranger in the Woods whose ominous riddle suggests others close to her will die within the week...

Brimming with raw emotion and a trail of psychological twists, a story of hope and transformation begins to unfold. Yet with the riddle's deadline looming, Suzanne's present must ultimately collide with a violent past. Will she be able to solve her life's riddle and fulfill her destiny? Or will she die along with those she loves?

Read an excerpt:

For Suzanne, the Woods possessed a special nurturing power, awesome and quiet, that was able to draw an assemblage of friends, neighbors and varied strangers, bonding them together at the level of heart, horse and hound like no other place on earth. Even the forest’s subcultures held her respect and fascination with their vast mini-universes, pulsating with life. The fuzzy caterpillars were already nesting in their massive weblike tree tents, as silent as seeds sprouting, dreaming of their aerial futures. Carolina lizards were guarding their stands of shrubs from the moist bunkers of leaf mold and fallen bracken. Honeybees worked on the pollen of azaleas under nutrient-rich pine needles, swaying and green. The staccato knocks of the pileated woodpecker mixed with the intermittent calls of cardinals and blue jays, while the lulling songs of warblers carried weightlessly on an ethereal stream of a humid wind.

Book Links

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My journey to becoming a writer

My journey to becoming a writer began in high school, thanks to a wonderful teacher who saw something she liked in my writing, selected me as yearbook editor, and encouraged me to major in journalism in college, which I did. It was also about the same time, I learned of a family death mystery that triggered an insatiable curiosity in me about it as well as a whole host of metaphysical subjects. I discovered that my maternal grandmother, Henrietta, had lived on an Apache reservation with her physician husband until he mysteriously died there.

I am a product of my grandmother’s second marriage, so by the time I became interested in this family mystery, most of those involved had already passed away, including Henrietta. My mother was able to tell me a few stories about her mother’s positive relationships with Indigenous Americans and shamans, but no one could answer the questions I had about her first husband’s mysterious and premature death. So I started making up a story about it. My first novel, The Soul Retrieval, is the result and with a Henrietta-inspired character as my protagonist. The research for this novel took me to strange places and down many fascinating spiritual and metaphysical paths, and I’ve incorporated many of these insights into my novels. But there’s so much more to learn and share!

Because I was working full-time as an advertising copywriter in Chicago and raising my children while I was trying to write The Soul Retrieval, it took me many years to complete. But, after moving to Arizona and taking an early retirement ten years ago, I was finally able to devote quality time to fiction writing. I finished The Soul Retrieval and started on my next novel, which I had planned to be a thriller and sequel. I’m happy to report The Woods of Hitchcock took me much less time to write. I could focus on it in Arizona, of course, but I’d also been holding the seeds for it in my mind, since childhood.

When I was growing up in South Carolina, and first heard the name “Hitchcock Woods,” which is a real place, even as a young teen, I honestly thought it sounded more like a suspense novel than the enchanting equestrian forest preserve that it is. Perhaps I was seeing into my own future. While I was living in Chicago and started writing novels, I kept coming back “home” and to Hitchcock Woods, walking and riding horses in it with family and friends, eventually realizing it, as well as Chicago, would be the ideal settings for my protagonist, Suzanne Clayborn, and her suspenseful Hero’s Journey.

The Woods of Hitchcock and The Soul Retrieval are part of my “Henrietta Series.” In The Woods of Hitchcock, my Henrietta character plays a secondary role as the sage grandmother to my protagonist. I’m currently working on the third novel in this series, although like the first two, it will stand completely on its own. And that’s where we are now.


Thank you, Andi’s Book Reviews, for the opportunity to share my writing journey. It’s my hope that it has provided inspiration to other writers, to follow their own Hero’s Journey, no matter how long or where it takes them.

Ann W. Jarvie has a B.A. in journalism and twenty-five years’ experience as a writer in advertising and public relations agencies, in Chicago and South Carolina. Although it stands completely on its own, The Woods of Hitchcock is an indirect sequel to Jarvie’s award-winning debut novel, The Soul Retrieval, which received four literary awards, the highest score by Writer’s Digest e-Book Awards’ judges (5 out of 5 on all points) as well as myriad positive reviews. Jarvie currently lives in Paradise Valley, Arizona with her husband, their boxer dog and boxer mix rescue.


Website and Social Media:
ANNWJARVIE.COM

facebook.com/annwjarvie

instagram.com/annwjarvie

twitter.com/annwjarvie

Ann W. Jarvie will be awarding a $75 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

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"Flower Girl: A Novel" by Merida Johns

 

Welcome to the blurb blitz tour for Flower Girl by Merida Johns! Enjoy an excerpt and then follow the tour for more. Best of luck entering the giveaway!

Everyone wants to believe they can hold on to their anchor, the light of their North Star, and live their truth . . . Suzanna Jordan did too until she fell for a man with a movie-star presence and a dark alter ego. Losing hope of salvaging her life and gaining her freedom, an unlikely source serves up a platter of just desserts that even Suzanna’s treacherous abuser might not evade.

Read an excerpt:

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13, 1984

It’s five o’clock in the morning. A waterfall of worries washes over me, but one remains, one I cannot ignore, one that means my life or death—do I have the courage to stop this nightmare?

I hear muffled voices and hasty footsteps fading away in the distance. My crisis, already old news to them, cataloged on a forgotten document. They have abandoned me and left me alone with my fear.

Rolling to my side, my legs dangle off the bed, and gravity pulls my five-foot-five, slender body toward the floor. My feet rebel. They scream and cramp in pain as they hit the cold cement. My insides shake, and my body wobbles. My eyes blur, and my hands reach out to find the bed. I steady myself and count under my breath, “One, two, three . . .” The agonizing muscle spasms in my feet start to unwind.

My world plays in slow motion. My eyes drift across the brackish-beige walls, swamp-green curtain, stainless steel instruments, and electronic gadgets—my stomach knots, my heart falls, my mouth goes dry. Helplessness hits me like an animal in a snare.

I spot my possessions, swathed in clear plastic, in the chair’s seat in the corner of the room. I hobble over and open the bag and poke through it—a Victoria’s Secret midnight-blue lace bra, an OSU red T-shirt, a pair of Gloria Vanderbilt denim pants, a Coach purse, and white Reeboks. I loosen the ties of the rumpled steel-gray gown; it slips off and falls to the floor. Dressing in fancy lingerie is absurd, so I toss it on the chair and throw on the shirt and jeans.

I look down at my sneakers and stop. In my mind, I see my husband’s squinting eyes and hear his haunting disapproval. Quit wiggling your feet over the counters of your damn shoes, Suzanna. You’ll ruin them! I shake my head, clench my jaw, and disobey.

I have no strength to bend over and tie the shoelaces. Jonathan would have a nasty comment about this, too. I ignore him. My eyes close in victory. “Cherish every step. Each is a grand slam toward deliverance.”

My fingers run through my disheveled hair, soaked with sweat—my muscles loosen, my brain fog lifts, and the ache behind my forehead fades.

I pull back the curtain circling the bed and grimace—the overhead lights jar me. I pump myself up—One, two, three, go. I take off.

I shuffle through the corridor between the beds bordering the room and reach the doorway to the waiting area. If people are here, I do not notice them. My eyes fix on the escape at the end of the room—the pulsating red exit sign. The floor-to-ceiling doors open, allowing my aching body to limp toward daybreak. The heavy morning breeze hits my face, and the sickening, sterile scent covering me blows away. I clutch my heart and silently sob, Thank God I’m alive.

But the joy vaporizes into the humid air. The war has only begun. Clutching for courage, I console myself. You’ve gotten this far. You can make it! You can live your truth.

I look up above the horizon, and I see it! There’s my North Star, its five points shimmering in the dawn and guiding me toward my purpose—But before I can help others be their best, I must help myself be my best.

Outside the sterile walls of a hospital emergency room, I hold my own. I put a stake in the ground. I swear that the fight to flee my abuser’s snare, save my life, and follow the guidance of my North Star is worth it.

Buy on Amazon

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Merida Johns writes about the human experience—that often is messy—and how ordinary people tackle challenges, live through sorrow and betrayal, struggle with doubt, but despite this, gather the strength to act on their aspirations and achieve flourishing lives.

“My insight into the power of fiction came during a conference call in late 2017 with a group of fellow life coaches when I asked, ‘What would it be like to help people achieve a flourishing life through storytelling instead of another self-help book?’

After that phone call, I got started answering that question. Almost three years later, the result was my debut novel Blackhorse Road, a heartfelt story of womanhood and the power of choice, gratitude, and forgiveness that was published July 21, 2020, by Coffee Cup Press. Now, I’m thrilled about the upcoming release Flower Girl—a story of a woman who must make sweeping changes in her life to live her truth.

Before writing fiction, I was a professor and author of health informatics and leadership textbooks. Later, I put my experience to use as a leadership coach, focusing on helping women break the glass ceiling and fulfill their leadership and economic potential.

My husband and I reside in the beautiful Midwest countryside. This is where I find the serenity and space for bringing to life the stories about everyday people who face and overcome extraordinary challenges by finding and following their North Star.

https://www.MeridaJohnsAuthor.com

Twitter: @MLJohnsAuthor

FB: https://facebook.com/MeridaJohnsAuthor

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/meridajohns

Merida Johns will be awarding a $30 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

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Review of If She Dies by Erik Therme

 

Welcome to the book tour for If She Dies by Erik Therme. This was an intense psychological thriller, and I'm sharing my thoughts below. There's also an excerpt to enjoy. Be sure to follow the tour for even more. Let the author know your thoughts and ask questions along the way. Best of luck entering the giveaway!

Nine months ago, Tess’s five-year-old daughter was killed in a car accident. The driver, Brady Becker, was sentenced to two years in prison. It didn't make Tess’s pain go away.

Brady also has a daughter: A twelve-year-old named Eve who walks to Chandler Middle School every day. Tess knows this because she's been watching Eve for the last three weeks. It isn’t fair that Brady’s daughter gets to live, while Tess’s daughter does not.

When Eve goes missing, all eyes turn to Tess, who doesn’t have an alibi. But Tess isn’t guilty.

Or so she believes.

Read an excerpt:

I slouch further into the driver’s seat as Eve exits her apartment complex across the street. Today, she’s wearing jean shorts, sandals, and a blue tank top; blonde hair pulled into a crooked ponytail, her electric-pink backpack secured firmly over both shoulders. Eve turned twelve a few weeks ago, and since that day, she walks the six blocks to and from Chandler Middle School alone. She’s a few minutes later today than yesterday, but last Friday she was so early I almost missed her leaving. That won’t happen again.

Eve stops just outside the complex doors and tilts her head upward. Her mother, Meg, is raining down an angry stream of words from the screen-less window one story above. I can’t make out what’s being said, but I do manage to catch a single word riding the mild May breeze: ungrateful. There was clearly an argument this morning, maybe about laundry that wasn’t folded, or unfinished homework, or a dishwasher that wasn’t unloaded, or one of a thousand other things a mother raising a twelve-year-old daughter alone can stress over.

But Eve is a trooper.

She patiently listens to every word with her head raised, not talking back, not crossing her arms, not reflecting her mother’s anger. I think to myself: what if today’s the day? What if something unthinkable happens to Eve this very morning and she’s never seen again? What would Meg do with that guilt? How would she live with herself, knowing her final words to her daughter were angry and bitter over something trivial and inconsequential?

BUY LINKS

Amazon—US * Amazon—UK * Audible—US * Audible—UK

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**My thoughts**

It was not my intention to read this book all at once. I had things I needed to do, and figured I would do it in parts. But once I started, I couldn't put it down.

Tess's grief is unimaginable. The loss of one's own child is probably the worst pain you could ever feel. And if you haven't been through it, you just won't understand. The closest I came was when my cousin's two-year-old son died in an accident. And even then, I still cannot totally comprehend what they went through. But I could feel a lot of it. And you feel it in Tess's narration.

She has lost a lot of her sense of reality. She's grappling with the questions of why and fairness. She wants to further hurt the man who killed her daughter, wondering if he would be upset if his daughter, Eve, were killed. But at the same time, she is highly protective of Eve. In fact, she stalks her, keeping an eye on her. I understand some of her thought process, but it isn't okay.

She constantly lies to her husband. She's constantly checking up on him. I will say that I have to wonder why she is always checking on his GPS with his phone, but he doesn't seem to do the same to her. I think some of her behavior could have been stopped if he would have checked in with her more, but he seems to be more trusting.

They're at odds about how to move on from the pain of nine months prior. Everyone handles grief differently, and the two extremes are captured quite well in this couple's dynamics. I feel like the author must have some kind of experience with tremendous loss, either of his own or someone with whom he is very close.

Sometimes it's hard to feel sorry for Tess, because you know that she needs help, but keeps avoiding it. And yet you do feel sorry for her, because she is really as low as you can possibly go. Then it seems like someone is targeting her and her daughter, as she is being taunted in various ways. But her paranoia also plays into a lot of that, making mountains out of molehills at times. I would say that as the reader, I went through almost as many confused emotions as Tess did.

But there is definitely a threat. And there are more problems going on within the family, all of which is slowly revealed over the course of the book. At times I felt a little frustrated that it would take so long to reveal some points (like what actually happened in the death of their daughter). But again, I couldn't put the book down until I was done.

The emotions being displayed make it an intense read. I think some of the situations revealed are quite real and probably happen more than we realize. I'm now intrigued by this author and may have to check out some of his other books in the future, because I do love a good psychological thriller.

Thank you to the author and Goddess Fish for providing me with a requested review copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Erik Therme has thrashed in garage bands, inadvertently harbored runaways, and met Darth Vader. When he’s not at his computer, he can be found cheering on his youngest daughter’s volleyball team, or watching horror movies with his oldest. He currently resides in Iowa City, Iowa—one of only twenty-eight places in the world that UNESCO has certified as a City of Literature.

Website
https://www.eriktherme.com

Twitter
https://twitter.com/ErikTherme

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/ErikTherme.writer

Goodreads
https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/7831573.Erik_Therme

BookBub
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/erik-therme

Erik Therme will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

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The Trapped Daughter by Jay Kerk

 

Psychological thrillers are always fun to read, but I particularly crave them at this time of year. Check out an excerpt from The Trapped Daughter by Jay Kerk. Get even more as you follow the tour, leaving your questions and comments along the way. And then be sure to enter the giveaway!

Have you ever been trapped somewhere? I have.
Have you ever found that the world does not believe you? I did.

I have been betrayed by the people I trusted the most. They coil around me like snakes, lulling me with whispers about protection and safety and for your own good.

They offer up pills like sweets, promising me relief. Just take the meds and everything will be fine, Belle – the meds, Belle, the meds.

Everything will not be fine, and it never will be again. Justice is gone from the world. I have been wronged by Gabe, the man I loved most, and when I turned to others for backup, they sided with him because he’s a star. When I ran to my father for safety, he locked me up in his great big mansion and threw away the key. Now I drift like the ghost Gabe pretended I was, my bare feet tasting the coldness of rich tiles, my breath turning to ice.

Gabe isn’t real, they tell me. They insult me, they spit at me, then smile and pretend that they wish to help. Meanwhile, Gabe is out there, luxuriating in all that I won for him, and I suffer and burn.

Buy on Amazon

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Read an excerpt:

Yup and okay are the only words I have muttered since he returned home. We eat dinner in silence, and watch him as he slowly chews every bite, enjoying and wowing at the flavors. I hate how much I hate him.

A few bites into dinner and I find myself without any appetite. I turn my eyes away from my father because if I don’t, I will either become mad enough to do something nasty to annoy him, or I will burst into tears. I stare up at the glittering chandelier hanging over the dining table. I wish its warm lights could dispel the gloom that has filled my soul.

I can feel my palms sweating, my forehead prickling.

“You haven’t spoken a word all night,” my father says.

I reply with a smile, but I can’t hide the disappointment behind it. Captivity breaks your spirits. Captivity makes you cherish small things that you were not aware you valued. Finally, after everything else, captivity crushes you.

If my mother was still alive, he would not even dare speak to me like that.

My mother never had the patience for helping me with schoolwork, or setting up pink balloons for my birthday. My father was the one who sat me down for French spelling, bedtime stories, and even talked me through my trouble with boys. He was the rock. She never made much effort, but she would not have harmed me like he is doing.

They weren’t different people because of how they were brought up – they were different because of his approach to life. Any greedy businessman learns new millennial skills if they bring in more money. He controls the environment he operates in to ensure he achieves his goals. Discipline in hierarchy is a term he created to describe how an employee should have a soldier’s obedience with regards to company objectives. Without, he says there is no way to run any large company – and he had more than a thousand staff.

My mother was an artist who believed in autonomy and individual expression at any cost. Side by side, they were wolf and sheep, predator and gentle, peaceful grazer. I regret not spending more time with her before she passed. She could have warned me about the monster.

The power to converse with him about anything eludes me, and I struggle through the couple of hours that I have to endure in his presence until he retires to his room. The moment I return to mine, I lie on my bed, close my eyes, and think of Gabe.

About the author:

As a physician, I used my clinical background to keep the readers on their toes. All options are on the table. Is Gabe real? Did Gabe ever love her? What was their relationship? Was he her husband, and did she kill him? Is Gabe her brother?

My name is Jay Kerk, and I am a 33 year old. I am a medical doctor, and I use my background to illustrate unlikely but realistic situations revolving around the alterations of the mind. My first book A Predator and A Psychopath, self-published in July 2019, received five stars from Readers Favorite and 4 and a half stars from Self-Publishing Review.

www.Jaykerk.com

https://www.facebook.com/AuthorJayKerk/

https://www.instagram.com/authorjaykerk/

https://twitter.com/KerkJay

https://www.goodreads.com/jaykerk

https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B07V8SRM47

Jay Kerk will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. 

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Top 10 Things About Eve Sanchez from Goddess of the Wild Thing by Paul DeBlassie III ... and more

Today we welcome author Paul DeBlassie III back to my blogosphere. Today he's telling us all about Eve Sanchez, the protagonist from his award-winning thriller Goddess of the Wild Thing. He also gives us some insight into his writing and you can read an excerpt from the book. Follow the tour for more and let him know what you think along the way. Best of luck entering the giveaway!

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Your journey to becoming a writer: 

By age sixteen, I’d read Jung and Freud and decided I wanted to become a psychologist and writer. That’s why my novels are psychological thrillers. They tap into the tumble of rumble of the unconscious mind.

Your writing routine: 

An idea springs to mind then, if it lingers over months and sometimes years, I hit the page running and word after word, sentences and paragraphs a story is birthed. Then comes the cleanup – edits, edits, edits, etc. As we all know, the writing is in the rewriting!

Top 10 ... about one of your characters: 

Eve Sanchez, the protagonist of the Goddess of the Wild Tuing, encounters a seductive and frightening man, criminal lawyer Sam Shear. He introduces Eve to a supernatural world in which the wicked powers of a surrogate mother’s twisted affection threaten love and life. The evil woman walks a fine line between sanity and insanity, dark and mysterious happenings in her wake. Where there’s love, there is often a woman who feels spurned and wills the demise of the loved woman. Eve struggles to discover the identity of the evil woman, a fierce battle with an unexpected outcome. In therapy, I help patients through love issues like this, Goddess of the Wild Thing dramatizing what happens more often that we think.

Preview of an upcoming book/series: 

After writing The Unholy and Goddess of the Wild Thing, I’ve thought about resting; but the resting is in the living and writing—an everyday experience. The new book The Goddess of Everything is white-hot – there’s a woman who thinks she all that and more to boot - can control, cajole, and bag whomever and whatever her nefarious heart desires. It’s a visionary thriller of mother love gone bad and a son’s desire to break free. There’s twist and turns and an unexpected heroine – The Goddess of Everything!

Goddess of the Wild Thing

Winner of the Independent Press Award and the NYC Big Book Award for Visionary Fiction!

Eve Sanchez, a scholar of esoteric studies, is driven into unreal dimensions of horror and hope as she encounters a seductive and frightening man, criminal lawyer Sam Shear.

Sam introduces Eve to a supernatural world in which the wicked powers of a surrogate mother’s twisted affection threaten love and life. Struggling to sort through right from wrong, frightened yet determined, Eve nears despair.

Goddess of the Wild Thing reveals the dramatic tale of one woman’s spiritual journey where metaphysical happenings, unexpected turns of fate, and unseen forces impact her ability to love and be loved.

In the magical realm of Aztlan del Sur, a mythopoeic land of hidden horrors and guiding spirits, Eve, with three friends and a wise old woman, is caught in an age-old struggle about love—whether bad love is better than no love— and discovers that love is a wild thing.

Read an excerpt:

“Shirley spoke up, “Maybe we just gotta give it up and say there’s no good out there and no damn good men.” Shirley spat on the sidewalk, as she was prone to do when attitudes turned south and a pissed-off mood overrode a physician’s reserve. A petite woman, hovering around five-foot-three, she was a spitfire to friends and foes. Her red hair was a fine match for her spicy temperament. She never hesitated to snap her tongue, making an envious woman or cocky man shrivel and long to crawl into a nearby hole and cry. Shirley lived as a healer and a warrior, a woman who cared tenderly for the hurting and raged viciously at pretense and abuse.

Eve, Shirley, and two other friends, Tanya and Samantha, were plagued by man troubles the way pollution settles in during dusty days and humid nights in the Middle Rio Grande Valley of Aztlan del Sur. They were four esteemed professional women who could have any man they chose. Yet time and again, they went for the lower, the bad, the worst. They sabotaged the good, the permanent. Commitment was a frightening consideration for four women who’d suffered childhoods of parental dysfunctional neglect and split-ups. They often quipped, “We found each other because like finds like.” Tonight, Eve’s troubles were front and center. She’d done it again or at least worried she had. The glitch in the man was in the type she attracted: charmers—striking and untrue. Suffering had begun. Time was critical. To stick it out or get out was her dilemma. Things with a new man had taken a terrifying turn.”

Available on Amazon

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About Paul DeBlassie III

Paul DeBlassie III, Ph.D. is a depth psychologist and award-winning writer living in his native New Mexico. He specializes in treating individuals in emotional and spiritual crisis. His novels, visionary thrillers, delve deep into archetypal realities as they play out dramatically in the lives of everyday people. Memberships include the Author’s Guild, Visionary Fiction Alliance, Depth Psychology Alliance, International Association for Relational Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy, and the International Association for Jungian Studies.

Website: pauldeblassieiii.com

Paul DeBlassie III will be awarding $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

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Fable by Michele Packard

Psychological Thriller

Date Published: May 2019

From the author of AESOP comes another psychological thriller in this series featuring Matti Baker as she navigates through the twisted world of deception and evil.

Matti Baker is a trained counter terrorism contract operative who maneuvers stealthily with secret identities as wife and mother. Matti is repeatedly tested by her domestic and international assignments in her quest to keep America safe.

With relentless action, Matti dives deeper into the world of artificial intelligence and the consequences of opening Pandora’s box to humanity while simultaneously identifying the players who are targeting world genocide and New World Order.

A story of espionage, intrigue and adventure captivates you as Matti and her team engage in the rigorous and often deadly encounters that come with security.

"Plenty of thrillers attempt to create spunky female protagonists; but AESOP excels in its gritty, first-person observational style. It will especially delight thriller audiences who like their action nonstop and their characters not just intelligent, but self-determined, driven, and sometimes edgy in their relationships with loved ones, superiors, peers, and the world." - D. Donovan, MBR

Purchase Links

Amazon  * B&N  * Kobo  * iBooks 
(affiliate links included) 

Other Books in the Matti Baker Thriller Series:

AESOP

Published: July 2018

Private contractor Matti Baker's personal quest is to keep America safe. With unwavering loyalty, she was trained to assist government and outside agencies in identifying, locating, and eliminating individuals and nations that pose as threats to the United States. Baker navigates through assignments, that on surface, appear to have no connection. Ultimately Baker finds out that they are all intertwined and will trigger global destruction if not stopped. While sacrificing to keep her family hidden and safe; Baker enlists the help of her best friend and closest colleagues to eradicate double agents.

Whether in Texas, California, the Middle East, or even the foothills of Montana, Baker finds herself in the center of world domination. She keeps her wits about her and those that are lucky enough to be in her inside circle.

Amazon

About the Author

Michele Packard comes from a military family and worked tirelessly as a cable tv executive before staying-at-home to raise her three children. She has written in both the fiction and non-fiction genres, utilizing her experiences and wit to share stories with others. She is a frequent traveler with her husband and is the primary care taker of the family's beloved labs.

Contact Links

Website

LinkedIn  

Instagram  

Promo Link  

Author Gareth Frank tells us why he wants to step into The Moment Between

Have you ever wanted to step into a book to experience it from the inside? Today, author Gareth Frank tells us why he would like to visit his latest book The Moment Between. Please also enjoy an excerpt from it and be sure to leave Gareth comments and questions as you follow the tour. Remember to enter the giveaway!

Nobody wants to die. At least nobody who isn't seriously depressed. Oh, but to die and come back to tell about it. That would be an amazing adventure.

As journalist Judy Bachrach says, we are living in the days of Lazarus. Modern medical resuscitation techniques have made it a fairly common practice to bring people back to life after they are clinically dead and absolutely no brain function is detectable. In The Moment Between, we get a glimpse of the afterlife from those who have died, a fictionalized but realistic look at an unbelievable phenomenon.

I am no fool, I don't really want to die. Even if I could be resuscitated, the risk is far too great. Instead I just want to step into my book. I want to see the visions that people report. I want to live my life over again just as they describe it —a life review, total and complete in an instant. I want to feel peace and unconditional love flow through me and around me. I want the surety, peace and confidence that most people return with.

The Moment Between is a psychological thriller that brings death to life through the story of Doctor Hackett Metzger, a neurosurgeon still recovering from the passing of his wife when he becomes involved in a medical study of near death experiences, and falls for a woman with a dangerous past. Hackett, a likeable and brilliant doctor, is also a bit of an awkward nerd. He agrees to support the study even though his heart and mind tell him that death is final. Life and research are about to collide.

The Moment Between

After four years of mourning, Doctor Hackett Metzger is determined to stop letting his wife's death control his life. He is finally beginning to live again, but his recovery leads to an unexpected fight for his own survival and startling revelations about what happens to all of us in The Moment Between.

Hackett, a brilliant neurologist, is a skeptic. He doesn't believe he will one day be reunited with Jean, or dwell with God in heaven. What he does believe is that he should have seen the warning signs of her heart attack; he should have saved her. He also cannot accept the possibility that his clinical study of near death experiences could prove the existence of a conscious afterlife. When Hackett falls for the mother of a patient, grief finally begins to fade. But he has no idea his new love is hiding her dangerous past. Will Hackett's damaged spirit endure another heartbreak?

Read an excerpt:

In those first months, he tortured himself with the notion that Jean’s voice had been real. He was sure that she had been present while he tried to save her. He prayed that she lived on in death, hoped that even as he failed, she had a soft landing on the other side. Her voice became his torture.

And so he understood death as he never had before. He understood grieving and pain. He understood what it meant to miss someone and to know that he would never see that person again. He understood loneliness. Most of all he understood the foolish and painful illusion that life might somehow continue. There was no voice. Jean had not talked to him from beyond. He had tortured himself from within. She was dead. He had learned to accept that cold hard reality. Anger had settled into the dark hole that was his memory of that day, poisoning his spirit. For weeks he stayed home from work, for months the blackness held him captive, until slowly he emerged into the world once more. His sanity hinged on his acceptance that Jean’s voice had been an illusion. Death was just death.

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About Gareth Frank

Gareth Frank is a former union organizer and administrator. He received a Master's Degree at the University of Wisconsin and later studied at the Writer’s Center in Bethesda, Maryland. The Moment Between is his first published novel. His short stories have been published in various journals and have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize as well as the Silver Pen Write Well Award.

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