Book Blast of Spiral by Randy Dean Noble(#thriller, #horror, # contest- Win an Amazon/BN Gift Card)

 

I want to welcome Randy Dean Noble to Books R Us. Randy has written a Horror and thriller novel called Spiral. The Author is giving away a $25 Amazon/BN gift card to one lucky winner. Enter below to win. This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Click on the banner above to see the other stops on the tour.

About the Book:

They’re in the number one watched game in the world… or so they wetold. But they have no memory of who or where they are. Something beyond their wildest imaginations awaits to mercilessly strike them down. And looming in the darkness is something worse... much worse.

Green—named after the color of car he's driving—awakens on the side of a dark highway surrounded by dense forest. And he's in an old muscle car with no way to tell time, no cell phone, and the radio doesn’t work. When he encounters others like himself, they have to join forces to unravel the mystery surrounding them. Yet, trust doesn't come easily—someone amongst them is a saboteur.

With their lives at stake, they are compelled to engage in a race where being last means certain death. They must disentangle the truth that threatens to consume them, before they spiral out of control.

Spiral is a gripping tale of survival, coalition, and the terrifying secrets that lie hidden in the shadows.

Prepare for a rip-roaring, adrenaline-fueled ride that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last page.

If you enjoy books by authors like Dean Koontz and Blake Crouch that involve supernatural thrills laced with fast-paced action, then check out Randy Dean Noble's exciting horror thriller, Spiral, today.

 

 Excerpt:

Have you ever had an instinct so strong that you had to comply? It’s all I had. An overwhelming feeling to run.

I woke up in a car I didn’t recognize, seated behind the wheel, with no memory of how I got there, no idea what day it was or what time other than I could clearly see it was night. I had no watch and no cell phone. The engine idled with a deep rumble, the gear shifter in neutral, and the emergency brake had been depressed. It was a standard transmission. Did I know how to drive a standard? I couldn’t remember.

And when I woke, every part of my being screamed at me to go, to just drive. The longer I contemplated, the sweatier my hands got, sliding on the hard, cracked green steering wheel. My heart palpitated faster and faster.

It was dark out, like really dark. A moonless night. Initially, disorientation didn’t register where I was, but it didn’t take long to see I was pulled over on the side of a highway.

My heartbeat thumped in my chest like it was trying to escape. Wide eyes greeted me in the rearview mirror, eyes I didn’t recognize, nor the sweat-beading bald head reflecting back.

Who was I?

A flicker of movement caught my attention—in the ditch, near the line of pine trees. The headlights were on the high setting.

When I turned my head to look, nothing was there, but I swear I saw… something.

About the Author:

Randy Dean Noble is a supernatural thriller kind of guy. He grew up in Canada on a slew of movies and books (action/adventure, horror, sci-fi, and fantasy), all of which have inspired his writing interests. Working a plethora of minimum wage jobs took Randy into computer science and a career in I.T. (because he didn't want to eat PB&J for the rest of his life). But his passion has always been writing, and his dream is to be a full-time fiction author. He writes stories he wants to read, which end up as fast-paced thrilling escape stories meant for one thing: to entertain the reader from beginning to end. His most recent work, Spiral, is a horror thriller wild ride you won't soon forget. Visit him at www.randydeannoble.com.

Connect with the Author:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RandyDeanNoble

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@randydeannoble

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/randydeannoble/

Buy the Book: https://mybook.to/BMTJgXQ

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Blurb Bitz Tour of Dying For Monet by Claudia Riess (#Contest- Enter to Win an $25 Gift Card)

 

 

Dying For Monet:

Claudia Riess

Genre: Mystery

BLURB:

Dying for Monet, book 5 of Riess’s art history mystery series, opens on a gala evening auction at Laszlo’s, an upstart auction house in New York City. After a much sought-after Impressionist still life painting is without notice withdrawn from the auction
block, its broker is found dead at the foot of an imposing statue in Laszlo’s courtyard. Amateur sleuths Erika Shawn and Harrison Wheatley are once again drawn into an investigation involving an art-related homicide, this time with one sharing an unnerving coincidence with violent crimes occurring abroad.

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Excerpt:

Greenwich, Connecticut January 5, 1927

It was time. The mavericks, all thirty of them represented at the first Impressionist Exhibition in Paris, 1874, had passed away. Not that a clean sweep was essential to the plan, but there was a sense of closure about it, as useless yet gratifying as an account ledger balanced to the penny.

The framed canvases were propped up against the far wall of the living room like hostages awaiting their release. The overstuffed couch with its mesmerizing pattern of exotic birds had been moved into the dining room to clear the wall space for them. The drapes were drawn and the room was bathed in artificial light, yet the paintings seemed to be standing out in the open, beneath the sky. It was the sheer vibrancy of color that created the illusion, Elizabeth Barden thought, as she surveyed the display, guilt creeping into her enjoyment of it. Though there’d been no law against it, it had been criminal to have kept these luminous visions in the dark all these years. If only she hadn’t been bound by a promise!

She remembered her parents sitting her down at the kitchen table in this very home, thirty-three years ago it was, the two of them planting themselves opposite her, looking more grimly serious than she’d ever seen them. She was fourteen years old at the time and not yet settled on what to make of herself, looks and intelligence ratings still torturously pending. She imagined she was about to hear that she’d been adopted or had three months to live. What they told her was less dire, but required a more sustained focus to take in. The paintings would be her legacy, they said, but in order for this to be the case, she must follow their instructions down to the letter. She had to clasp their hands in hers—as good as swearing on the bible—and promise to do so. The mood lightened only once during the interview, and that was when she’d pronounced the artist’s name as if it rhymed with “bonnet.” “Monet,” her mother had corrected, grinning. “Mow the grass. Neigh says the horse.”

The memory did not draw a smile. How could it, when these prisoners stood before her in dutiful formation? How brilliantly they’d persevered without a trace of reproach marring their freshness! And wasn’t it curious, how her gaze seemed to be drawn—and return when it wandered elsewhere— to the still life of a Wedgewood vase teeming with flowers—gladioli, lilies, wildflowers; a riot of color she would hardly call “still.” Not her favorite genre, still life, but she’d felt the same sort of instant affinity to this painting as she’d had with her lover, Jacob, not at all her type, but upon an exchanged look, bound to him body and soul. And of course, in a manner of speaking he, too, like the painting, had been hidden for far too long from the embrace of natural light. She must free him, too, from the dark. She had been intending for a year—what was she thinking, more than a year—to tell her most dear but tiresome husband of her affair and the necessity for a divorce. The imminence of the afternoon’s scheduled eve

nt strengthened her resolve. She would end the secrecy tonight.

Hard to believe that barely one hour from now, unless God or chance intervened, the transaction would be under way. The wealthy young art collector, Lewis Keller, along with the gallery owner who had used his networking skills to nose him out and was serving as broker in the deal, would soon be rapping at the door of the sprawling old ranch-house where Elizabeth had lived all her life, half of it with her husband, Wallace. The gallery owner’s entourage of packers and transporters would be on hand as well. The collector, a bit wet behind the ears, she’d discovered when he’d first come to look over the paintings, had seemed to rely more on the gallery owner’s aesthetic judgment than on his own. Like a pet owner forced by circumstances to give up her precious charge, she hoped that the man to whom she was relinquishing the paintings would treat them with the care they deserved.

Before withdrawing to her room to freshen up, Elizabeth stepped into the kitchen to see how her husband was coming along with the needless crudité platter he was arranging for their guests.

“Ah, Wally,” she said rather sadly, thinking of what was ahead for the poor man tonight, “an unaccompanied champagne toast would have been quite sufficient.”

“I know, Liz, I know,” Wallace said, putting down the knife with which he had been slicing carrots into sticks. “But you must admit, a little gesture of thoughtfulness goes a long away.” He tapped his apron-bibbed chest for emphasis.

“You’re right, dear,” Elizabeth agreed, gritting her teeth at his habit of speaking in aphorisms. The knife was lying on the counter unattended, and she imagined, for an instant as fleeting and pleasant as a sunny landscape striking an Impressionist’s eye, of stabbing him with it.

 

About the Author:

Claudia Riess has worked in the editorial departments of The New Yorker and Holt, Rinehart and Winston, and has edited several art history monographs. Stolen Light, the first book in her

art history mystery series, was chosen by Vassar’s Latin American history professor for distribution to the college’s people-to-people trips to Cuba. To Kingdom Come, the fourth, will be added to the syllabus of a survey course on West and Central African Art at a prominent Midwestern university. Claudia has written a number of articles for Mystery Readers Journal, Women’s National Book Association, the Sisters in Crime Bloodletter, and Mystery Scene magazine. To read more about Claudia and her work, visit the author's website.

Connect with the Author:

Website: http://www.claudiariessbooks.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/ClaudiaRiess

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ClaudiaRiessBooks

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/claudiariessbooks/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/claudiariessbooks/

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Book Blast of the Trophy Wife by Kiru Taye (# Contest, #Romance- Win an Amazon Gift Card)

Trophy Wife
Kiru Taye
(Yadili, #6)
Publication date: September 30th 2024
Genres: Adult, Romance

He needs her to elevate his status.
But she will be his downfall.

Finally, Ifeoma is ready to fully embrace the freedom of singlehood. Her ex-husband has moved on and remarried, and her son has flown the nest. With the intention of self-discovery, she embarks on a worldwide adventure, determined to fulfil three items on her wish-list: to experience pure joy, to find laughter in every corner, and to revel in her own sensuality.

Then she meets Nero, a mysterious Black Italian whose charm captivates her instantly. And for twenty-four hours he fulfils every item on her wish-list. But he wants more, more than she’s willing to give. So, she ends it and goes home.

Months later, Nero turns up in Nigeria, more detached and ruthless than the man she remembers, intent on destroying her family business and legacy. And only one thing will quench his bloody feud—Ifeoma as his trophy wife.

Still Ifeoma is a titled woman who isn’t easy to control, if she can keep Nero out of her bed—the one place his passion burns hotter than a forge at dawn, consuming her restraint.

Trophy Wife is book 6 in the Yadili series. In this enemies-to-lovers romance, the air crackles with tension and the chemistry between the characters is scorching hot, creating a story that will leave you breathless. Themes include unrequited love, touch her and die, forced proximity, and the intoxicating darkness of a mafia romance. A full-length novel. No cliffhanger.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Apple / Kobo / Google / Selar

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EXCERPT:

Nero sat immobilised as he watched Ifeoma approach him. Today she was in a V-neck knee-length multi-print wraparound dress with ties around the side. She’d worn it with a grey blazer which now hung over the chair she’d been sitting on.

Walking away from a woman had never been difficult for him. And it shouldn’t be with Ifeoma. Yet a heavy weight had crushed his chest when he’d told her he was no longer interested in marrying her.

She leaned her hips against the table beside him and caught his wrist in her soft hand.

His flesh burned at the contact, sparks shooting down his arm. It annoyed him.

This unwavering attraction he held for her had to be because it had been months since he fucked any woman. Months since he fucked her. She was the last woman he’d touched intimately.

She’d run away after their night together, blocked him from contacting her. Yet here he was burning from her simple touch.

“Don’t.” The one word was filled with the emotions she roused. A growl rumbled from his chest as he pulled his hand away from her.

About the Author:

Kiru is the award winning author of His Treasure. She writes sensual and passionate multicultural romance stories set mostly in Africa. When she's not writing you can find her either immersed in a good book or catching up with friends and family. She currently lives in the South of England with her husband and three children.

Subscribe to her newsletter for book news and giveaways: http://www.kirutaye.com

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Instagram / Youtube / Twitter

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Book Blitz of Transference by Ian Patterson (#contest # Science Fiction- Win An Amazon Gift Card)

Transference
Ian Patterson
Publication date: October 1st 2024
Genres: Adult, Dystopian, Science Fiction

Nicholas Fiveboroughs is a Sicko, someone that takes on others ’illnesses. In a city where diseases can be transferred, the rich buy longer lives without pain, and the poor get a short life of constant sickness. Maybe it was fate, or maybe someone is looking out for him, but after Nicholas barely survives his latest affliction, he gets the chance to try and change things. To finally stop the whole disease transfer network.

Tensions escalate as Nicholas infiltrates a higher society he doesn’t understand, and starts to fall for the very person he needs to manipulate to be successful. And between run-ins with a talking animal and genetically modified humans, the world around him just keeps getting stranger. Can Nicholas tear down the disease transfer architecture? And can he do it without losing his own humanity along the way?

Goodreads / Amazon

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EXCERPT:

The Disease Transfer Machine, or the Box as we call it down here, was invented some time before the city. It’s always existed here, the primary thing shaping our lives. It sounds noble at first, the elimination of disease, until you realize it only works that way if you can afford it. For those of us in the lower levels, it’s the thing killing us. It’s the only job we can find. It’s the poison that we can’t stop eating.

Do I know how it works? Not a ****** clue. One person sits on each side of the giant metal box, various tubes extend from it and connect to each of them. There’s a giver’s seat and a receiver’s seat, and no one else in the room when they turn the thing on. It’s a strangely intimate thing, sitting across the room from your destroyer. There’s a feeling of great suction all over your body, and then the misery sets in. The symptoms start like a bucket of ice water dumped on your shoulders. I’ve always wondered what a great relief it must feel like on the other side.

The backbone of our economy is built on it. The very rich trade their diseases to the very poor for appropriate compensation agreed on by both parties. But realistically, when you’re poor enough you’re too constrained to know what appropriate compensation is. Some people have tried to create laws around it, establishing contractual requirements and base pay for different diseases. They don’t mean much though, there was always someone willing to go under the base pay, there was always someone that needed the money badly enough to take the risk. Laws just give the illusion that what’s happening is fair. Of course, it’s not.

This new caste of people, the perpetually ill, were lovingly nicknamed Sickos. The working poor hated them for the ease they got their money, the middle class decried the horrors of rampant capitalism they represented, and everyone tried to buy their services when their own bill came due.

Author Bio:

Ian Patterson is many things. Importantly here, he’s the author of Transference, Book One of the Narrator Cycle. He’s also an engineer, cyclist, foodie, coffee lover, cat dad, human dad, and reader of books. Preferably, thick books that deal with strange things and big ideas. He’s dreamed of being an author for decades, but finally began the journey with the birth of his first daughter. This is an objectively terrible time to start work that requires quiet concentration, and he knows it, but he loves the chaos nonetheless. He lives in Colorado with his wonderful family.

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Spotlight of the Book The Death of the Kremlin Czar by Jorg H. Trauboth (# thriller-#Spotlight)

 

 

I want to welcome Jorg H. Trauboth to Books R Us. The author is touring the blogosphere with Pump Up Your Book. The book is an exciting, cutting-edge political thriller about the removal of a psychopathic Russian president who wants to restore the old Soviet Union.

 Book Title: The Mirror: The Death of the Kremlin Czar

Author: Jorg H. Trauboth

Publisher: Gedankenkunst-Verlag

Publication Date: August 26, 2024

Pages: 443

About the Book:

Russian President and new Czar Ivan Pavlenko suddenly shows his true colors during the war in Ukraine. He wants the old

Soviet Union back. The world is on the brink. The influential oligarch Alexei Sokolov wants to prevent Ivan’s megalomaniacal plans and is planning a fundamental new beginning for Russia. To achieve this, the Russian president must die. How will the US President react to the CIA’s proposal to support the oligarch, who has a romantic relationship with the Russian President’s partner, Yulia?

The poison attack is perfectly prepared, but the Boeing with the oligarch Alexei Sokolow, his lover and over 100 passengers on board is hijacked by a Ukrainian terrorist and is supposed to crash over Berlin after knocking out the crew by shooting. Former elite soldier Marc Anderson is on board with his family and takes over with Alexei. The two flight amateurs try to get control. Will the landing and the assassination succeed or will the Kremlin Czar strike back brutally after realizing the role of Yulia?

The Death of the Kremlin Czar is available at Amazon (U.S. edition) and Amazon (German edition).

 

About the Author:

 

Jörg H. Trauboth, born in 1943 near Berlin, logged over two thousand flight hours as a Weapon Systems Officer Instructor in the Luftwaffe, flying PHANTOM F-4F / RF-4E and TORNADO fighter jets, and over 3000 hours in light aircraft. At the age of fifty, he left the service with the rank of Colonel in the General Staff. He received training as a Special Risk Consultant from the English Control Risk Group and served as Managing Director Germany, dealing with extortion and kidnapping cases in South America and Eastern Europe. Shortly thereafter, he founded his own consulting firm, quickly establishing an outstanding international reputation. Trauboth protected his clients with a 24-hour task force during product extortions, product recalls, kidnappings, and image crises. He was the first President of the European Crisis Management Academy in Vienna and President of the American Yankee Association.

He is known as a respected expert in the media on security-related topics. He volunteers as an emergency counselor and is a member of the Crisis Intervention Team (KIT Bonn) of the German Foreign Office. He is a private pilot, married, with two sons and three grandchildren.

In 2002, Trauboth wrote the now out of print standard work “Crisis Management for Company Threats”.

In 2016 the follow-up work was published with Jörg H. Trauboth as editor in collaboration with five authors: “Crisis Management in Companies and Public Institutions”.

Terror expert J. H. Trauboth presented his debut novel in 2015 with the Germany thriller “Three Brothers”. (Available in English). In 2019 “Operation Jerusalem” followed and in 2020 “Omega”. The trilogy is about the former elite soldier Marc Anderson and his team. With these three self-contained thrillers, Trauboth is rated by many readers as the “German Tom Clancy.” The trilogy is available as a printed edition, eBook and audio book.

His first detective novel, “Jakobs Weg” (German), followed in 2021. The highly explosive topic of “sexual abuse of children” is processed sensitively in a scenario on the Way of Saint James and at the end offers contact options for those seeking help.

In 2022, the novella “Bonjour Saint-Ex” was published (German) in which the passionate pilot Jörg H. Trauboth turns the last flight of the legend Antoine de Saint Exupéry into an exciting literary event.

Readers wanted a sequel to the Marc Anderson series. In 2023, ZarenTod – Das Ende der Präsidenten was published, a highly topical political thriller. The Russian president and new tsar, Ivan Pavlenko, suddenly shows his true face during the war in Ukraine. He wants the old Soviet Union back. The world is on the brink. The influential oligarch, Alexei Sokolov, wants to prevent Ivan’s megalomaniac plans and is planning a fundamental new beginning for Russia. To achieve this, the Russian president must be removed. But the plan goes awry. Ex-elite soldier Marc Anderson intervenes. Will Czar Ivan die? What will become of Europe? The book 8/ 2024 in English „The Death of the Kremlin Czar” is the fourth political thriller in the Marc Anderson series.

Website & Social Media

Website ➜  https://trauboth-autor.de/english/

Twitter ➜ https://twitter.com/JorgTrauboth 

Facebook ➜  https://www.facebook.com/marc.anderson.735017?locale=de_DE

Instagram ➜ https://www.instagram.com/jorgtrauboth

Wikipedia: ➜ https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jörg_H._Trauboth

Linkedin: ➜ https://www.linkedin.com/in/joerg-h-trauboth-autor

Youtube: ➜ http://youtube.com/@trauboth  

 

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Book Blast of Spellcaster Wild Card by Nikki Jefford (#contest- Win an $50 Gift Card to the Authors Store)

Spellcaster Wild Card
Nikki Jefford
Publication date: October 1st 2024
Genres: Urban Fantasy, Young Adult

 

Win the game. Change the world.

Winning the show means living forever. It is the golden ticket to fame, fortune, and a place among the vampire elite.

Being remade isn’t on my wish list. I like being me, and with nearly a million online followers, it’s working. My parents and big sister are the do-gooders in our family who want to make the world a fair and just place for all humans and paranormal creatures. I just want to finish high school and keep doing what I do best—sharing hair and beauty tips while discussing Spellcaster and how the show’s vampire judge Malachi Rayne is the hottest male on the planet.

Then, life as I know it ends. There are evil forces who will stop at nothing to maintain world dominance—indefinitely.

It’s hard to care when I’ve become dead inside and out.

After my family is violently attacked, the host of Spellcaster insists I audition for Season 13. For the first time in the show’s history, they want to represent every species of paranormals. That’s me now. Not human. Not vampire. Not the class of creature anyone EVER cheers for.

This season’s prize is power beyond anyone’s imagination. It is the kind of reward that contestants and their sponsors would kill to possess.

Let the other contestants and judges underestimate me. They can gossip all they want about the hotshot wizard and the alpha werewolf behaving as though I’m another prize to be won. And if Coach Malachi can’t handle a bold influencer with abilities, then he can suck it. I preferred watching him from the other side of the screen. He’s about to discover that Haylee Hutchins is a force to be reckoned with. The whole world will.

Someone thought they could silence my family for good. Instead, they created a monster. I’m still here, and I am much harder to kill.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo

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EXCERPT:

Everything is spinning. My body. My vision. My brain. I clamp my mouth shut to keep from vomiting. The cleaning crew just got the stage cleaned. Then there’s the second reason I keep my lips pressed tight. I refuse to beg Malachi for mercy.

My hands flail and grasp for something to hold on to, but the wind rushing between my fingers is no help. If this is what flying feels like, then it’s highly overrated. I lean forward in an attempt to go vertical, which has the ill effect of pitching me forward so I catch a brief view of how far I am from the stage. My body flips around another time. I don’t want to land on my feet and crush my ankles. I certainly don’t want to land on my head and shatter my skull. I don’t want to break anything on my body!

If I won this season’s prize, I could defend myself instead of swirling helplessly like the roof of a house caught in a tornado.

The wind rips out my hair tie and blows my braid out in an instant. Blond hair whips me in the eyes. My body begins to descend slowly, while the spinning continues in full force. The tornado fades little by little into the stage until I am set down gently and it disappears altogether. I try to remain standing while the theater seats and stage continue to spin, but I tilt to one side and misstep. Thump. I fall to the stage, sprawled out on my side. It could have been worse, though. Way, way worse.

It’s a little hard to feel grateful as partially digested lunch rushes up my throat. I swallow it down.

Malachi stomps over. “What the hell was that, Hutchins?”

Great. He’s using my last name. The coaches never use contestants ’last names. I must be in trouble.

It’s a serious effort to get to my feet, which takes outstretched arms to keep my balance, but I’m not about to listen to this lecture in a crumpled heap on the stage.

My loose hair tickles my cheeks. I swallow again and cover my mouth with my hand. Malachi’s not in my face, but I don’t want him scenting my vomit breath. Well, not technically breath, but whatever foul waft might originate from the leftover taste on my tongue.

Malachi doesn’t wait for me to answer his question before drilling into me. “First rule of magical combat—never lose hold of your wand.”

“You lost yours,” I mutter, which is the wrong thing to say.

Author Bio:

Nikki Jefford is a third-generation Alaskan nomad married to an amazing Frenchman. She loves fictional bad boys and heroines who kick butt! Books, travel, TV series, hiking, writing, and motorcycle riding are her favorite escapes. The dark side of human nature fascinates her, so long as it's balanced by humor and romance.

To get in on the fun and adventure, visit Nikki at her website for release alerts, updates, exclusive giveaways, and a free story when you subscribe to her newsletter: https://nikkijefford.com/newsletter/

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter

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Book Blitz of Rabbit Moon by Jan D. Payne (#Contest- Win An Amazon Gift Card)

Rabbit Moon
Jan D. Payne
Publication date: September 17th 2024
Genres: Adult, Mystery, Thriller

They say you can’t go back home, but Marin Sinclair, end-of-life doula, doesn’t expect her life to be in danger when she answers a mysterious plea for help from a long-ago friend and returns to Dinetah, the Navajo Nation. Her past there holds memories she is reluctant to confront, but what about her life then would make someone want to kill her?

Navajo Nation Police Sergeant Justin Blue Eyes shares a connection with Marin from the past, and he has a few questions of his own when Marin disappears―such as why the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has agents investigating the abandoned uranium mines on the reservation and how Marin is connected.

Marin needs to survive to find any answers, and to do so she is forced to run, going off the grid on her own in the Lukachukai mountains with unknown killers close behind.

Goodreads / Amazon

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EXCERPT:

The Bilagaana woman’s eyes were wide and staring, and even if she wasn’t a ghost-witch Haastiin Sani thought maybe she was crazy. Only someone crazy would have been out here alone in the dark and the rain. Crazy people must be treated with care, and the same for ghost-witches. It didn’t help to make them angry.

He looked at the woman, considering.

She was trembling now, as if cold, but witches and crazy people both were known to be clever. The sooner he saw her off the better, and he jerked his chin toward the direction of his camp and motioned the woman to follow. He would show her every hospitality and then gently nudge her on her way.

She looked somewhat better when he gave her a cup of hot coffee and offered the frybread his daughter had left for him, inviting her with a nod to take it, and tears came into her eyes as her lips and chin began to tremble.

Very much like a normal person, but it could be a ruse to cause him to relax his vigilance so she could blow corpse dust over him. He busied himself with the fire and wished fervently to be rid of this evil.

Marin knew she made this man very uncomfortable, and she thought she even knew why, considering where and how he had found her, but she didn’t know how to relieve his fears without making things worse.

“Thank you,” Marin murmured to the old man. “Ahéhee’,” she repeated.

She studied the man on the other side of the fire. His face was seamed and wrinkled, his frame was tall and spare beneath the loose shirt of red cotton tied with a woven sash. His gray hair was worn long, and there was a turquoise bead woven into a strand of hair near one temple.

A hogan was built higher up the slope, a blanket hanging across the eastern door, and an empty sheep pen was tucked into a rocky cliff a short way from it. A handsome bay horse wearing a rope halter stood nearby, sheltering under overhanging boards propped between a few corral poles and the cliff.

She looked around for the sheep she knew must be somewhere close by, and the dogs, but they weren’t in sight. She didn’t see any sort of vehicle either, or any other person besides the old man, watching her surreptitiously.

The old man cleared his throat suddenly, and she flinched, startled, but instead of speaking, the old man rose to his feet and walked toward the corral.

She stood as well, thinking he meant for her to follow, but he gave no sign, and she paused.

Passing Marin without word or look, he ducked under the hogan’s blanket door, emerging a moment later with an ancient-looking saddle, a bridle, and a thick saddle blanket woven in red and black yarns.

Silently, he began to saddle the horse, smoothing the blanket across the horse’s back and throwing the saddle over, pulling the cinch tight. He put the bridle on last, settling the bit into the horse’s mouth before reaching to adjust the braided ear straps. Without looking at her, he walked back, thrust the reins towards Marin, and spoke for the first time.

“You go now,” he said, and pursed his lips, pushing his chin toward the east.

Marin opened her mouth to object to taking his horse and slowly closed it again. The old man was giving her a way to get down the mountain, and she had no wish to bring trouble to him if Tolliver managed to follow her here.

She took the reins.

Haastiin Sanii grunted and stepped away toward the fire, and Marin tied her jacket to the saddle, surprised when he returned and pushed the remainder of the frybread into her hands.

“Over there,” he said, pointing again with his chin, “is a good way down.”

She waited for any more words the man might offer, for he seemed to be listening and thinking carefully, but he said nothing. He slapped the horse on the rump and stepped away.

“You go now,” he repeated.

Marin mounted, then turned in the saddle. “I’ll leave the horse at a trading post below,” she said.

Haastiin Sanii shrugged, relieved, as he watched her ride away. She was someone in a lot of trouble or someone bringing a lot of trouble, but he had done the best he could.

He looked down at his sash and fingered the gun he had found beside the spring, then looked down the trail at the woman on his grandson’s horse. He wondered if she knew a flashflood was coming and if she knew enough to stay out of the canyon.

He shrugged again, figured a ghost-witch would know and a crazy person wouldn’t care.

Author Bio:

Drawing from her years in the Southwest and the Navajo Nation, Jan Payne writes on themes of courage, regret, hope, and restoration in a world of created kinships. Through her characters ’lives and shared dangers—Marin Sinclair, end-of-life doula; Sergeant Justin Blue Eyes of the Navajo Nation Police; Cullen MacPherson, agent for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission; Garret Washburn, teenaged ward of Marin’s, and Lewis George, Raven spirit-guide-cum-trickster—she takes readers on a journey through the complex interactions of cultural backgrounds and personal histories, highlighting the way kinships forged in crisis have the power to reshape our lives.

Jan Payne lived on the Dineh (Navajo) reservation in Sanostee, on the New Mexico side of the Lukachukai mountain range, where she spent summers climbing mesas, taking camping trips on horseback, exploring ghost towns in the mountains of Colorado, or working with her dad breaking and training horses in Sanostee. Her two most memorable summer jobs were at a Durango, Colorado dude ranch working with pack mule trains and a brief stint as a camp cook at a uranium mining site.

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