5 Questions with Rosemary McCracken, author of BLACK WATER

Rosemary McCracken is a Canadian journalist. Born and raised in Montreal, she has worked on newspapers across Canada as a reporter, arts reviewer, editorial writer and editor. She is now a freelance journalist who specializes in personal finance and the financial services industry. She advocates greater investor protection, and improved financial services industry regulation and enforcement.

Rosemary’s short fiction has been published by Room of One’s Own Press and Kaleidoscope Books.

Safe Harbor is her first published novel. It was shortlisted for Britain’s Crime Writers’ Association’s Debut Dagger in 2010.

Rosemary lives in Toronto with her husband, and makes frequent retreats to her stone cottage in Ontario’s Haliburton Highlands.

Rosemary’s published stories include “Crazy” in Kaleidoscope Books’ anthology, Mother Margaret and the Rhinoceros Café; and “Putting Mother in Her Place” in Room of One’s Own, vol. 19:4, winter 1996. 

Her latest book is the suspense thriller, BLACK WATER, available from Imajin Books. Also on Amazon.

Q: Congrats on the release of your book, Rosemary! Tell us why readers should buy Black Water.

A: Take a look at a few comments that readers of Safe Harbor, the first book in the Pat Tierney series, made. “I can’t wait for the next Pat Tierney instalment,” one Amazon review wrote. “I look forward to seeing what trouble Pat Tierney gets herself into next,” another reviewer added.

Well, Pat is back! In Black Water, she leaves Toronto and heads out to Ontario cottage country where an elderly man has been brutally murdered. Her daughter Tracy’s friend Jamie is a suspect in the murder, and when Tracy asks her mother for help…well, Pat is a softie when it comes to family.

Pat is also fully committed to her clients. She’s a financial advisor with integrity and ethics. Because the financial services industry revolves around money, it provides opportunities for those who are clever and greedy enough to challenge the system. She doesn’t want to see people taken by these bad apples. She has the courage to stand up for what she believes is right.

This is probably why The Toronto Star called Pat “a hugely attractive sleuth figure.” 

Q: What makes a good suspense novel?

A: A good suspense novel grabs the reader’s attention in the first few pages, and keeps the tension mounting through the rest of the book. In Black Water, the initial grabber is a prologue from the point of view of Lyle Critchley. This elderly man drives into his detached garage one evening and the building goes up in flames. Lyle is trapped inside. The prologue sets the novel into motion, and it raises some important questions for the reader. Who set fire to Lyle’s garage? And why did this person want to kill Lyle?

Q: What is a regular writing day like for you?

A: I’m a working journalist as well as a fiction writer so I find it difficult to carve out a set chunk of time for fiction writing every day. My days are often shaped by interviews for my articles and publication deadlines. But because I’m now a freelancer, I have control of my schedule and I try to keep my summers free for writing fiction. I spend most of the summer at my country home in the beautiful Haliburton Highlands north of the city of Toronto, where I can get a lot of work done on a novel. I can often complete the work, and work on subsequent drafts when I return to my home in Toronto over the fall and winter.

Q: What do you find most rewarding about being an author?

A: I love seeing my books on a shelf, and picking them up and opening them. Ebooks are wonderful and they’ve brought my books to people all around the world. But there is just something so thrilling about holding a book in your hands that has your name on it.

And I’m thrilled beyond words when a reader tells me that he or she enjoyed my novel. That is the reason I write!

Q: What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever received that you’d like to pass to other authors?

A: Keep writing. And take advantage of every opportunity to get your work published and launch your writing career. Enter writing contests, attend conferences for works in your genre, and network with other writers. And don’t let negative comments about your work get you down. They’re often just sour grapes.

BLACK WATER is available at http://www.amazon.com/Black-Water-Tierney-Mystery-ebook/dp/B00CWF2X8S

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Book Review: Blood Moon, by Alexandra Sokoloff

Book Description

Book II of the Huntress/FBI Thrillers

Twenty-five years have passed since a savage killer terrorized California, massacring three ordinary families before disappearing without a trace.

The haunted child who was the only surviving victim of his rampage is now wanted by the FBI for brutal crimes of her own, and Special Agent Matthew Roarke is on an interstate manhunt for her, despite his conflicted sympathies for her history and motives.

But when his search for her unearths evidence of new family slayings, the dangerous woman Roarke seeks – and wants – may be his only hope of preventing another bloodbath.

Purchase BLOOD MOON

Amazon US / Amazon UK / Amazon DE

My thoughts…

This novel was a hell of a ride. Sokoloff has a gift for creating engrossing plots and heart-racing thrillers. I read the first book in the series, Huntress Moon, and although I loved that first instalment, this second one was even better.

First of all, the whole thing about the female serial killer–actually, a vigilante–is quite compelling, especially because our protagonist, Roarke, develops torn, conflicting feelings toward her. And we can’t help but do the same! Sokoloff has done her research well and she incorporates lots of information about the mind of the serial killer. She does this skillfully, however, without including long information dumps like some other authors do. Roarke is a sympathetic hero with a high sense of honor and justice. There are lots of twists and turns, yet the story evolves organically, with the right balance of quiet moments between the thrills. Lots of atmosphere, lots of interesting setups.

If you haven’t read Sokoloff’s novels yet, I highly recommend you do. She’s one of my favorite authors these days and her stories never disappoint. One more thing, although Moon Blood is the 2nd one in the series, it holds well as a stand-alone book, as the author incorporates bits of backstory here and there to quickly draw readers right into the central plot of the series. In sum, if you’re a fan of suspense and thrillers, I strongly recommend you pick this one up. You won’t be disappointed.

Read my interview with Alexandra Sokoloff HERE.

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5 Questions with Alexandra Sokoloff, author of BLOOD MOON

It’s a thrill to have here Alexandra Sokoloff as my guest today, not only because her books are awesome, but because she happens to be one of my favorite writers. Needless to say, I’ve read all of her books.

Alexandra is the Thriller Award-winning and Bram Stoker, Anthony, and Black Quill award-nominated author of multiple supernatural thrillers, and the Top Ten Amazon bestselling Huntress/FBI thriller series (Huntress Moon, Blood  Moon), which has also been nominated for a Thriller Award for Best E Book Original Novel.

The New York Times Book Review has called her a “daughter of Mary Shelley,” and her books “some of the most original and freshly unnerving work in the genre.”

As a screenwriter, Alexandra she has sold original horror and thriller scripts and adapted novels for numerous Hollywood studios. She has also written two non-fiction writing workbooks: SCREENWRITING TRICKS FOR AUTHORS (highly recommended, by the way!) and WRITING LOVE, based on her internationally acclaimed workshops and blog, and has served on the Board of Directors of the WGA, west and the Board of the Mystery Writers of America.  

Find the author: her website, blog, on Facebook , Twitter andPinterest.

Q: Hi there, Alexandra. Thanks for stopping by The Dark Phantom. Tell us why readers should buy BLOOD MOON.

A: If you’re at all interested in unusual psychological crime thrillers, this one will probably grab you. The main character is an FBI agent who is on the trail of what looks like a female serial killer, which Agent Roarke knows very well doesn’t occur in real life.  So there’s a real psychological mystery about who this female killer is and why she does what she does. Readers find their expectations challenged and their sympathies conflicted, just as Roarke does.

Q: What makes a good thriller?

A: I think different people are looking for different things in thrillers. There’s such a wide variety of experiences and sensations available from different books in the genre. Personally I am bored senseless by car chases and gun battles and international intrigue. What I love in a thriller is nail-biting suspense and psychological game playing and sexual tension and mystery and moral dilemmas and twists. So that’s the kind of thing I write, of course!

Q: What is a regular writing day like for you?

A: I start by seven or eight a.m. and write for seven or eight hours a day, much more if I’m on an intense deadline. Some of those hours are business, of course. But I’m a full-time writer, I treat it like a job because it IS my job.  One thing that is not like a regular job is that I change clothes a lot during the day.  Some days I am quite dressed up. I need to entertain myself some way other than eating!

Q: What do you find most rewarding about being an author?

A: Without question, having readers read my books and experience the world and the characters just as if they’re caught up in a film. And then being able to dialogue with them about the story and characters and their experience of the story. It’s such an intimate relationship. Incomparable.

Q: What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever received that you’d like to pass to other authors?

A: For aspiring authors, “Find a small room in a big city and sit down at your desk in front of the window. When you stand up ten years later, you will be a writer.” That’s from Saroyan.

And for authors in general, “E-publish.”  It’s more complicated than that, of course, but you asked for the best advice!

——————————————————————–

Book II of the Huntress/FBI Thrillers

Twenty-five years have passed since a savage killer terrorized California, massacring three ordinary families before disappearing without a trace.

The haunted child who was the only surviving victim of his rampage is now wanted by the FBI for brutal crimes of her own, and Special Agent Matthew Roarke is on an interstate manhunt for her, despite his conflicted sympathies for her history and motives.

But when his search for her unearths evidence of new family slayings, the dangerous woman Roarke seeks – and wants – may be his only hope of preventing another bloodbath.

Purchase BLOOD MOON

Amazon US / Amazon UK / Amazon DE

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5 Questions with R. Barri Flowers, author of BEFORE HE KILLS AGAIN: A Veronica Vasquez Thriller

R. Barri Flowers is an award winning criminologist and internationally bestselling author of more than sixty books–including thriller and suspense fiction, relationship fiction, young adult mysteries, true crime, and criminology titles.

Bestselling mystery and thriller fiction, including SEDUCED TO KILL IN KAUAI, MURDER IN MAUI, MURDER IN HONOLULU, KILLER IN THE WOODS, DARK STREETS OF WHITECHAPEL, STATE’S EVIDENCE, PERSUASIVE EVIDENCE, and JUSTICE SERVED.

Other novels by the author include the bestselling relationship novel, FOREVER SWEETHEARTS, and young adult novels, COUNT DRACULA’S TEENAGE DAUGHTER, GHOST GIRL IN SHADOW BAY, and DANGER IN TIME.

Flowers has also written a number of bestselling true crime books, including THE SEX SLAVE MURDERS, THE PICKAXE KILLERS, SERIAL KILLER COUPLES and MASS MURDER IN THE SKY. He was editor as well of the bestselling anthology, MASTERS OF TRUE CRIME.

The author has been interviewed on the Biography Channel and Investigation Discovery.

Official Website: http://www.rbarriflowers.com/

Q: Tell us why readers should buy BEFORE HE KILLS AGAIN: A Veronica Vasquez Thriller.

A: BEFORE HE KILLS AGAIN is a crime thriller written by an award winning criminologist and bestselling author of such true crime books as THE SEX SLAVE MURDERS and thriller fiction, including MURDER IN MAUI and DARK STREETS OF WHITECHAPEL.

This book is about an FBI profiler and criminal psychologist who returns to her hometown of Portland, Oregon, to assist the police in tracking down a serial killer, who murders beautiful women in pairs.

As someone who has written extensively about real life serial killers, BEFORE HE KILLS AGAIN brings verisimilitude to the perpetrator and his psyche as he pushes the boundaries in handpicking his victims.

For readers who love thriller fiction where the villain is a frightening serial killer who matches wits with the beautiful protagonist and homicide detectives on the case—or are fans of TV series such as Criminal Minds, Dexter, and Hannibal-- this is a novel you are sure to enjoy.

Q: What makes a good thriller novel?

A: A good thriller novel is one in which there is a constant sense of danger and a suspenseful whodunit, with three dimensional characters who bring you along for the ride as they converge for a heart pounding conclusion.

Within this regard, the thriller should also convey a strong plot with smart twists and turns and deft pacing that will allow the story to play itself out while keeping the reader thoroughly engaged.

Some great thrillers that come to mind include Robert Ludlum’s The Aquitaine Progression and John Grisham’s The Pelican Brief. I believe that BEFORE HE STRIKES AGAIN also fits in this category.

Q: What is a regular writing day like for you?

A: A regular writing day for me involves getting up at 6 a.m. and heading to my computer at 7 a.m. (after an hour of working out and having breakfast)—where I spend the next five hours writing and rewriting my latest book.

After a noontime lunch and chores, I am back at it by 1 p.m., where I go at it on computer till 5 p.m. (sometimes 6 p.m., if really on a roll), typing away in faithfully sticking to the plot in my head.

I call it quits for the night after that and am back in the grind the next day.

This is a routine I follow seven days a week. I am the type of writer who is not easily distracted by other things—understanding that I get out as much as I put in as an author.

Q: What do you find most rewarding about being an author?

A:  What is most rewarding to me as an author is being able to successfully write in multiple genres (thriller, true crime, young adult mysteries, and criminology). As such, I have fans in these different genes, giving me a good reason to try and keep up with them in bringing out fresh material they can take pleasure in reading.

Aside from that, I enjoy the camaraderie with other authors, having found some great friends over the years to seek advice and words of wisdom from while returning in kind.

Q: What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever received that you’d like to pass to other authors?

A: That’s a great question. Hmm… I’d have to say that the best writing advice I’ve ever received and have passed along to other authors came from a bestselling crime writer who told me when I first got started: “The thing that separates serious writers from those who aren’t in it for the long haul is the ability to shake off rejections and look at as constructive criticism rather than personal attacks—making yourself a better writer in the process with each rejection letter.”

Definitely words to live by for any writer willing to work at it to hone your craft till you get where you’re going in finding success in the business.

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Book Description:

From R. Barri Flowers, award winning crime writer and international bestselling author of Dark Streets of Whitechapel and Killer in The Woods, comes a gripping new psychological thriller, Before He Kills Again: A Veronica Vasquez Thriller.

FBI psychologist and criminal profiler Veronica Vasquez returns to her hometown of Portland, Oregon to assist police in apprehending a ruthless serial killer dubbed “The Rose Killer,” who kills beautiful women in pairs, leaving a rose on top of each corpse.

Heading the investigation is homicide Detective Sergeant Bryan Waldicott. Veronica must win him over, along with the entire task force, and prove herself worthy of the job. Since losing her husband three years ago, Veronica had been focused on her work to escape the pain of loneliness and separation. A romance with Waldicott, who has issues of his own, complicates things for them both as they try to stop a serial murderer before he kills again.

When she begins to suspect that the new husband of her estranged sister Alexandra could be the killer, Veronica pursues that delicate angle and, in the process, becomes a target herself.

Before He Kills Again is tense thriller that will keep readers on edge till the very end.

 Purchase:

Amazon Trade Paperback / Kindle /Kindle UK / Kindle CA / Barnes and Noble Nook eBook / Smashwords / Kobo

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Book Review: Chasing Victory, by Joanne Jaytanie

Chasing Victory is a delightful debut novel by first-time author Joanne Jaytanie.

Our beautiful protagonist, Victory Winters, is a veterinarian and geneticist specializing in molecular biology for Claremont Research in Poulsbo, Washington. She also has a special innate ability she keeps secret: she has almost a telepathic gift to communicate with animals. As head of her department, she’s currently researching canine DNA and its potential benefits to humans.

Then one day, Victory receives a cryptic call from Jeffrey, an old friend and colleague who she hasn’t seen or spoken to in 5 years. Like her, he’s also a veterinarian and geneticist working for a competitor company, Biotec. Jeffrey insists he needs her help and asks her to meet him in a picnic spot. But, to her horror, once there she secretly witnesses his murder.

Soon after, she’s approached by a representative of Biotec with an offer to work for them. They claim that Jeffrey is working overseas, and they want her to take his place. Though she doesn’t trust them, she decides to play along in order to investigate her friend’s murder. But things go unexpectedly wrong when instead she’s kidnapped to a secluded island and forced to do research, injecting humans with wolf DNA. Unbeknown to Victory at first, the madman CEO wants to create the perfect invincible army.

Thus, Victory is soon pulled into a vortex of intrigue, blackmail and murder. Together with the hero, Tristan Farraday, a naval officer who also has telepathic abilities and who is sent undercover to investigate Biotec’s experiments, Victory must find a way to stop the company from carrying out their horrific plans and to get out of the island alive.

This was a fun, light, entertaining read! They story is compelling and the hero and heroine sympathetic. Victory is intelligent, yet caring and sensitive. Tristan is the perfect combination, not too alpha, not too soft. The action moves at a pretty quick pace, and there’s a lot of action and romantic suspense to keep readers turning pages. One thing I especially enjoyed about this story is that the love between Victory and Tristan develops gradually and organically. I certainly look forward to reading more works from this author. Recommended for fans of paranormal romance!

Visit the author’s website: http://www.joannejaytanie.com/

Purchase from Amazon.

My review previously appeared on Blogcritics.

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5 Questions with Melodie Campbell, author of Rowena and the Dark Lord

Melodie Campbell achieved a personal best this year when Library Digest compared her to Janet Evanovich.

Melodie got her start writing comedy (stand-up and columns.)  In1999, she opened the Canadian Humour Conference.  She has over 200 publications including 100 comedy credits, 40 short stories and 4 novels. Her fifth novel, a mob caper entitled The Goddaughter’s Revenge (Orca Books) will be released Oct. 1. She has won 6 awards for fiction, and was a finalist for both the 2012 Derringer and Arthur Ellis Awards.

Melodie is the Executive Director of Crime Writers of Canada. Her humour column ‘Bad Girl’ appears in The Sage.

Connect with Melodie on the web:

www.melodiecampbell.com

www.funnygirlmelodie.blogspot.com

Facebook: MelodieCampbellAuthor

Twitter: @MelodieCampbell

Q: Welcome to the Dark Phantom, Melodie! Tell us why readers should buy ROWENA AND THE DARK LORD.

A: Need a laugh? Want to escape? That’s what I’m all about. I’m a former comedy writer who has gone over to the dark side of writing comic fantasy. ROWENA AND THE DARK LORD is a rollicking adventure novel, with romance, adventure, magic and sex…and hopefully you will find it ‘Hot and Hilarious” as many reviewers called the first book in the series.

Q: What makes a good comic time travel novel?

A: Fast and lean writing. A protagonist you like and want to be for a little while. OH, and maybe a few attractive warrior men to bring up the heat. But really, I think the trick to writing any novel is to provide the reader with an entertaining escape.

I write in first person. I like the reader to *become* the protagonist, to be pitched into Rowena’s head and experience what she does.  That’s entertainment.

Q: What is a regular writing day like for you?

A: I’m the Executive Director of Crime Writers of Canada, so I have a day job. My writing, like many authors, is done mainly at night, from 8 until midnight, and on weekends.

I tell my writing students that writing takes time, and you have to give up something if you want to write. So I gave up the gym. And housework. I’m quite happy, really.

Q: What do you find most rewarding about being an author?

A: I’ve won six awards for fiction – BUT – have to admit – the most rewarding day of my writing life was very recent, when a reader found my email address and wrote to tell me that ROWENA THROUGH THE WALL (first in the Land’s End series) was the best book she had ever read. I actually cried. That’s the best reward I can imagine. And readers like her are the reason I continue to write.

Q: What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever received that you’d like to pass to other authors?

A: Writing is work – hard work. Be prepared for that. We all think it should be easier, but it’s not. Sometimes, in those magic moments, it doesn’t seem like work, and that is grand. Those are the moments we live for.

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Dark magic…dark passions….

When Rowena is abducted from Arizona and taken back to medieval Land’s End, one thing is clear: she must learn to control her powers of magic. It isn’t easy being a modern girl in an archaic land, and when Rowena accidently conjures up a Roman Legion in mid-battle, Land’s End is on the brink of a war that could jeopardize everything and everyone she loves.

The stakes are raised when the Dark Lord reappears and traps Rowena in a cyclone of lust and passion. Once again, she is torn between the man she loves and the mage who fires her desire.

Purchase the book on Amazon.

Currently #2 Timetravel in Canada!  Top 100 in US!

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Author Profile: Anne K. Edwards

Like so many authors, Anne K. Edwards grew up with her nose stuck in a book. “I couldn’t get enough stories,” she says.

In the third grade, she fell in love with Walter Farley’s exciting Black Stallion series. An avid horse lover all her life, she reread the series over the years and still enjoys them. Though no one read to her when she was a child, her mother always encouraged her to read and write. “Books weren’t a necessity when I was a child,” states Edwards, “but Mom taught herself to write music and play the piano which wasn’t bad for a gal who left school at 15. We lived our creative dreams together.”

At 9 years of age, Edwards began writing stories which she was sure would be accepted by top known magazines and she submitted often, with The Post being a favourite target. Now retired, Edwards modestly hesitates to call herself a fulltime writer because of all the “many furry distractions that rule our home. I write while they snooze between meals.”

Today, Edwards is an award-winning, multi-genre author who writes both fiction and nonfiction for adults, as well as children’s picture books. She has penned novels in genres ranging from cozy mysteries, to speculative and fantasy, to suspense thrillers. A reviewer for more than a decade, she also regularly writes short stories and articles for magazines.

Presently, she’s promoting the release of her suspense novel, Shadows Over Paradise, the story of a young woman who travels to the South Pacific Islands to attend a friend’s wedding, but ends up nearly killed because she finds a dead body—none other than the groom’s—on her first day there.

It often takes her a year or more to finish a novel. Some have even taken her ten years due to stops and starts when another story has beckoned. She loves new ideas and often drops what she’s working on to see what would happen with a new one. As for her writing space, “I have a computer in a corner of a room that is cluttered with cats and paper and books,” she says.

Edwards describes her writing process as follows: “It begins with an idea that I want to follow to some sort of conclusion. For instance, I just worked on a new Death and Detective story where Death who is a guide for the souls of those passing over was revealed to have a special problem. Like the other such stories in the series, I wanted to see where the idea that became a plot, then a story, would lead. I usually have my ending for all stories before I begin to write. Following these ideas means I take the side roads that open up, follow false clues, and let the story unwind as I go. Having the ending is a general goal to work toward and has the ability to be changed if necessary and of necessity keeps the story focused on that point.”

After falling victim to a couple of online scams, one that resulted in a book being held by the publisher for a full seven years, and after wasting her time and efforts with agents and large publishers, Edwards is happy to have found Twilight Times Books (www.twilighttimesbooks.com). “Twilight Times Books is a very honest publisher that promotes their name and their authors and I feel lucky to be an author there. It took me several decades to find them as I started submitting at age nine and I’m now older. Lucky for writers in general there are more quality publishers out there than bad ones. One factor about find a publisher, no matter your age, do learn how to write before you submit,” warns the author.

For Edwards, the most rewarding aspect of this business is seeing the finished product of her efforts and having someone read it and say they really enjoyed or understood it.

A native of the Pennsylvania, Edwards resides in Gettysburg, where she keeps herself busy reading and writing. “I have about two million books I want to write and that many new ideas to follow.”

Visit the author at www.annekedwards.com.

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Book Review: The Consummate Traitor, by Bonnie Toews

Review by Susan Keefe

Lee Talbot, an American journalist, is in Guernica, northern Spain with Quinn Bergin on the day Hitler chooses to try his experiment ‘total war’ there. Devastated by the scenes of horror which unfold before her, she sends a graphic eyewitness account to London, where it is broadcast on the radio.

Back in London Sir Winston Churchill meets with his Director of the Secret Intelligence Organisation, Sir Fletcher McAlister and Lord Wynne Henry Radcliffe, as they build their spy network and watch Hitler carefully.

Undercover spies Lee and Quinn are in Vienna surreptitiously minding the lovely pianist Lady Grace, daughter of Lord Radcliffe as she wins the coveted Belvedere Medal; they are still there when Kristallnacht (The Night of Broken Glass) changes everything. That night Lee and Grace witness horrors which bond the young women from very different backgrounds together, and a close friendship develops.

England is at war and when tragedy strikes Grace’s life, she decides to work with Lee undercover in the desperate race to stop Hitler from make an atomic bomb, knowing that if he does so first, all is lost. What follows is a tale of love, intrigue and betrayal, as the two women and the people in their lives face unimaginable dangers, and hurdles, in the name of duty.

The secret life of the underground network, and spies, who risked their lives to help others escape the tyranny of Hitler in World War II, comes alive as we learn of the dangers they faced constantly, and the personal sacrifices they had to make.

The knowledge that this author has firsthand experience of wartime journalism comes as no surprise when reading this engrossing book. With her thorough research and attention to historical detail, I felt as if I was taking a peep into hitherto hidden war files, rather than reading a work of fiction.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, full of love, betrayal and intrigue, it has so many twists and turns it keeps the reader guessing right to the end.

Author website: http://www.bonnietoews.com/

Available in paperback and Kindle.

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Book Review: EQUITY of FEAR, by Rudy Mazzocchi

Once again author Rudy Mazzocchi ventures into the shadowy world of controversial medical technologies. In his first thriller, Equity of Evil, the author revealed a dark world involving abortion, human trafficking and organ cultures. In this his latest instalment and 2^nd book in the series, Equity of Fear, he boldly delves into subjects of the re-wiring of the brain to eliminate fear and the alteration of memory. Fascinating and terrifying stuff, to say the least.

Dr. Frank Moretti is CEO of Recon Innovations, a company that is developing a new technology designed to help millions of patients get rid of irrational fears, such as the fear of heights or darkness. He is also working on a neuroplasticity program designed to rewire the brain and restore the memory of Alzheimer’s patients. It all sounds like the perfect way to contribute to science and help humanity.

However, the USA, Russia and Japan are secretly competing for this technology, for a nation that would be able to control fear and pain in the minds of the people would also be able to create a supreme, invincible army.

Roman Citrano, a member of the Recon Board of Directors (also the protagonist in book 1 of these series), warns his friend Frank about the possible sinister repercussions, but Frank decides to move forward and license the technology to other countries. For this purpose, he flies to Japan with his teenaged son Joey—a big mistake, for soon both fall into an evil vortex of international intrigue where sadistic, unscrupulous doctors experiment on orphan children in the name of science, and where father and son have to fight for their lives.

This was a great read! First of all, the science behind it, which the author so skillfully describes and explains, is both absorbing and horrifying. It truly reminds us of the two very different fac

ets of science and what can happen when greed, ambition, and plain and simple human nature get in the way.

The story moves pretty quickly in spite of all the ‘science talk.’ I really liked the three main characters, Frank, his son Joey, and Roman, and felt compelled to stick with them to see how they were going to get out of their difficult predicament. I especially enjoyed the character of Joey; he really added spunk to the dialogue and situations. The Japanese scientist villain is well rounded, and I appreciate the tact and responsibility of the author in describing the Asian culture in the book. The ending is satisfying and utterly surprising.

One last word of caution, Equity of Fear has some scenes that are quite violent and graphic in nature, so this isn’t a read for those of you faint of heart.

Find out more on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Equity-Fear-EQUITY-Series-ebook/dp/B00C0HAUUG

View the original article on blogcritics.org

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5 Questions with Rudy A. Mazzocchi, author of the medical thriller, EQUITY OF FEAR

Rudy is best known as a medical device and biotechnology entrepreneur, inventor, and angel investor, with a history of starting new technology ventures throughout the U.S. and Europe. He’s been privileged to have the opportunity to see the newest innovations in healthcare and work with some of the most brilliant researchers, scientists and physicians in the industry.

Authoring more than 50 patents, he has helped pioneer new companies involved in cardiology, oncology, orthopedics, neurosurgery, ophthalmology and even embryonic stem-cell development. Through these efforts, he has become the recipient of many technology and business awards, including the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in Healthcare and the Businessman of the Year Award.

Combining these experiences and opportunities, with thousands of hours of travel and long evenings in hotel rooms, he found the initiative to start writing a collection of medical thrillers based on true events, known as The EQUITY Series. The first book of which is entitled “EQUITY of EVIL” (released March 5, 2012), and the second entitled “EQUITY of FEAR” (released March 25, 2013).

Find the author on the web:                                                               

Website: www.rudymazzocchi.com
Blog: http://rudymazzocchi.wordpress.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/RudyMazzocchi
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MazzocchiAuthor

Q: Tell us why readers should buy EQUITY of FEAR.

A:  EQUITY of FEAR is the second novel in The EQUITY Series, following the award-winning thriller, EQUITY of EVIL. These bold, controversial thrillers combine both business and medical science based on true events and/or current technologies under development.  They not only inform the reader about life-changing innovations that could positively effect  each one of us, but also reveal the dark and often frightening aspects of these technologies that can be manipulated to control our minds and souls. Society needs to prepare for how to best deal with such new innovations.

Q: What makes a good medical thriller?

A:  I believe that the readers of medical thrillers are sophisticated readers who are looking for  more than the conventional storyline found in mystery or suspense novels. Medical thrillers  are designed to incorporate medical science and technologies that could impact everyone,  unlike the mystery novel where the reader is an observer, along for the ride. A good medical thriller triggers the reader to think “this could happen to me”!

Q: What is a regular writing day like for you?

A: I usually write when I find the opportunity, which is most likely on a long trans-Atlantic or trans-Pacific flight, or during long evenings in my hotel room. I tend to start writing “scenes” according to the story that’s running non-stop in my head, and then stop when I need to dedicate the appropriate time to researching a topic, place, or clinical application.

Q: What do you find most rewarding about being an author?

A: It’s a rewarding platform for me to talk about the new innovations that I see around the world without divulging specific confidential information. It also allows me to openly explore the “why-nots” and “what-ifs” that often creep into my mind. It is then most rewarding when others find the results of such efforts informative and entertaining!

Q: What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever received that you’d like to pass to other authors?

A:  I seem to get more advice regarding publishing and promoting, than I do writing, but the best advice I’ve ever received was to “write what you know”. This seems intuitive for non-fiction, but I found it to hold true for fiction writing as well. When you call on life      experiences and knowledge, it’s much easier to craft those challenging scenes and to instil more realism.

About the book

Researchers and scientists in the U.S., Russia and Japan compete in a new technological race to control memories, fear, and pain in the minds of the world’s populace. At first the race is rooted in purely scientific ambitions, such as that of space travel or in the era of industrial revolution, but it evolves into something much more sinister.

Here is yet another dark world where scientists experiment on orphaned children rather than rhesus monkeys, where torture and pain become just another set of data points and lives are discarded for the sake of owning the ability to control how man perceives and processes fear.

AMAZON / B&N / OmniLit

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