Renee Novelle - Calculated - Promo Blitz

Renee Novelle - Calculated - PROMO Blitz

An investigative journalist gets an unlikely tip from a mysterious informant. Dismissing it as impossible, she disregards the information and drops the story. Until the informant turns up dead, as predicted.

Plunged into the murky waters of a seedy underground prostitution ring, this psychological thriller provides twist upon dark twist in a story that would ultimately pin the church and several government officials in the largest murder cover-up the city has ever witnessed.

But is it true, or has the journalist merely been used as a pawn in a greater scheme? And how many people is she willing to sacrifice trying to figure it out?

EXCERPT

When she arrived at the little facility her building provided, a quick look around confirmed she was the only one there. Just as she’d hoped, and exactly how she liked it to be. Smiling in satisfaction, she flipped on the television that was perched on the wall, and turned up the music on her iPod as loud as she could handle it. The multiple distractions would help her get through the extra mile she was planning to conquer. With chilled water bottle in place, she cranked up the treadmill to a nice brisk pace.

As her breathing picked up speed and her muscles began to warm, Ana’s eye caught a red flash along the bottom of the screen. Breaking News filled the bar, and the too-chipper-for-their-own-good reporters were suddenly getting serious. Since the volume was still muted, Ana couldn’t understand exactly what was going on, only that they were showing the wide stretch of river that ran along the outskirts of the city. She wiped the first beads of sweat from her brow, and used the remote to turn the volume of the television higher while simultaneously adjusting her music.

As the reporters spoke, home-video footage of something floating in the water rolled before her eyes. The camera zoomed in, the frame ever so shaky, and it became clearly apparent that the “something” was a person - face down with long brown hair spread out like a Catholic halo. It appeared another victim had been pulled out of the water; the count was quickly tallying up. A young woman this time, and possibly one who had gone missing the night before.

Ana’s pulse skipped a few beats as they replayed the video over and over. There was something familiar about the long, lean body. Slowing the treadmill to a stop, she ripped the ear buds from her head to give the segment her entire attention.

...it appears at first glance that the victim suffered from a deep cut to the throat, and received multiple stab wounds to the chest...

The beads of accumulated sweat turned cold on Ana’s brow. She immediately reached for her phone and dialed Kylie’s number.

“What the hell, Ana?” Came her friend’s groggy voice.

“Turn your TV on. Channel four. Hurry.” Ana said, eyes transfixed to the screen in front of her. “Recognize that face?”

...It’s thought the victim may be one of the young girls recently reported missing. The screen flashed candids of three possible women. All brunettes. All tall and thin. All roughly the same age. Among them was a photo of Mara, just as Ana had expected there would be.

But the body was too bloated and disfigured to be absolutely certain, and an autopsy would be needed.

... The body will be taken in for processing where officials hope to shed more light on the case in the near future. In the mean time, they’re cautioning residents to avoid....

“Did you see that?” Ana’s voice escaped in more of a demand than a question. “Please tell me I’m seeing things.”

“Oh my god...” Kylie whispered into the receiver, confirming the dread that was building in Ana’s stomach. “Do you really think it’s her?”

“I know for a fact it is.” Ana declared, the pull in her gut getting stronger by the minute. “The autopsy will confirm it.”

“So, what does this mean exactly now?”

“That maybe I should have been listening a little closer when I was talking to Mara.” She said with regret as she swiped her forehead with the back of her hand. “And maybe I should have asked more questions. There’s a story here, I’m sure of it now.”

“What are you going to do?” Kylie’s voice was decidedly more alert now.

Ana shook her head. “I have no idea.”

Though if she were to be truthful with herself in that moment, she’d already made up her mind. Ana flipped off the television, and left the little gym to get started.

COMBAT And Other Shenanigans

“War is hell…but sometimes it’s also funny as hell.
 Combat and Other Shenanigans is Lieutenant Piers Platt’s firsthand account of his year as a cavalry platoon leader in Iraq. Wry, action-packed, and poignant, Combat and Other Shenanigans is the absurd-but-true story of the antics the world’s finest soldiers get up to when no one high-ranking is watching.”

Combat (Military History)

“And Other Shenanigans”

By Piers Platt

ASIN #BOOINKEXNO

Kindle

Price $5.99

Rating 5-Stars

In 2002, after college the author joined the Army where he trained in the Armored Division at Fort Knox, Kentucky, then went to Germany as a lieutenant. Some of the story takes place in Germany, but most of it covers his 1-year tour in Iraq in 2004, as a cavalry platoon leader. Although we don’t see a lot of combat situations, we do see the men and tanks in action. As the subtitle states, we also see a bit of the shenanigans the crew get involved in.

In Vietnam our cavalry was the Assault Helicopters, but today the Abrams and Bradley tanks are our cavalry, with support from helicopters. It’s a different war, in different terrain, and with a different cavalry. Other than that, there seems little to no change in Army life. The back office, and higher ups still make idiotic decisions, and the troops still rely on their own ingenuity to get the job done. Lt. Platt knew enough to rely on his experienced NCOs to get him through the learning process in the war zone. Piers earned his cavalry spurs in combat. That allows him to wear the Stetson hat and boot spurs of the Cavalry Scouts. It is a sharp uniform. We were recently eating at Golden Coral in Wichita Falls when a Cavalry crew came in wearing their Stetson and spurs. My wife spoke with them, and they proudly explained their Scout duties. I think they were from Fort Hood.

There are plenty of things going on outside of combat that will bring a smile of understanding to any military person. Finding a Pizza Hut in Kuwait reminded me of the pizza we bought at the AF Base Snack Bar at Bein Hoa, Vietnam; right next to the glass cage containing a huge python  - usually feeding on a chicken. Or the reporters they were expecting, only to find out they were from a German toy model magazine, there to see the MI Abrams (tanks) on an actual combat mission. I think these things must have been filed under war and politics.

I don’t think we had time for shenanigans in Vietnam (I was submerged into a barrel of water by the troops at a company party), still that was a part of the Army throughout my twenty-year career. So I don’t doubt for a minute that Lt. Platt’s crew were able to find periods to let off some steam once in a while. The book may not be for everyone, but I highly recommend it for any active or ex military service member, as well as anyone researching the history of the war in Iraq. I enjoyed the book, and got a kick out of all the shenanigans. So will you.

Tom Johnson

Author of COLD WAR HEROES and BAD MOON RISING

Excerpt:

The American soldier is known for being resourceful and innovative, which is generally true, but is also a euphemism for being good at breaking the rules when necessary.  Every unit has individuals who are even more resourceful than most, and we were no exception.  Sergeant First Class Peterson was leading fuel convoy escorts later during our tour when one of his Humvees blew a tire.  As usual given our supply woes, he was totally out of spares.  He happened to be near a major support FOB at the time, and after a brief search at the supply depot (who wouldn’t resupply him because all of their tires were ear-marked for other units already), he found a motor pool with four or five Humvees in pristine condition, each of which carried a spare.  Given how clean they were, the Humvees were clearly not used for missions outside the FOB – they were glorified golf carts that got washed weekly and never left the wire.  Peterson and his men were in the midst of stealing two of the spares when a Sergeant from the unit that owned the tires strolled into the motor pool.

“Woah, what are you guys doing?”

Peterson had to think fast.  “Hm?  Oh, I talked to your NCO inside and he said to take them.”

“Sergeant First Class Johnson?”

Peterson smiled.  “That’s the guy.”

“Oh, okay,” the soldier said.  “Lemme give you a hand.”

Charlie Troop was similarly short on spare tires on another occasion, so they found a massive pile of them at their nearest support FOB.  Their Executive Officer, Dan Cho, argued for a while with the depot personnel, begging and pleading to get even a few of them released, to no avail – they were all reserved for other units who hadn’t shown up to get them yet.  Being a resourceful, adaptive individual, he thanked them and left.  Then he took his cargo truck to the opposite side of the depot, well out of sight of the depot offices, sent two scouts scrambling over the fence, and used his cargo truck’s crane to hoist the spare tires over the fence.

Machines of The Little People

Machines of The Little People: The Eve Project Book #1 (SF/Mystery)

By Tegan Maus

ASIN #BOOJU2VOGS

Tirgearr Publishing

Price $3,99

166 Pages

Rating 5-Stars

Benjamin Harris is a 57-year-old handyman living in Riverside, California. When his sister, Kate Kaswick dies of cancer, her husband Roger disappears before her funeral, and is missing for several years. When Ben finds Roger back at home, he has a new wife, Jessica, but Roger acts strange, and talks about the Katoys, a mysterious race of little people. When Jessica is found murdered, Roger disappears again, and Ben discovers government agents are involved someway.

Benjamin also has something wrong with his body that shorts out electrical machines, so they must be insulated against his presence. The Katoys are something that Roger invented, but are a weapon of mass destruction in themselves.

The SF angle was pretty neat, but the mystery is what drives the story. The characters come alive, and the writing is fast-paced and exciting, keeping the reader turning the pages.

Tom Johnson

Author of Pangaea: Eden’s Planet

Ben Harris’s sister died of cervical cancer more than three years ago… his best friend and her husband, Roger Keswick, disappeared the day before the funeral. For the next six months everyone from the local police to the Department of Defense searched for him but to no avail…  it was as if he had simply fallen off the face of the planet only to reappear at work as if nothing were out of the ordinary at all.

Then by the purest of coincidences Ben finds himself pulled back into Roger’s life only to discover he has remarried… to Jessica…  a woman that looks, sounds and acts just like his dead sister.  To complicate things, Roger is insistent his home, his car, his life is infested with tiny elf like creatures he calls the Katoy. He claims they run massive machines under his house and watch his every move… every move that is until Jessica is found bludgeoned to death in his living room and Roger is nowhere to found…   again.

Excerpt

"When Roger and I first met, he was unbelievably attentive and charming. He did little magic tricks, sleight of hand, to make me laugh.  He spoke of wondrous things so far over my head it took my breath away. It was like he spoke another language. He told me about his inventions and designs for machines the likes of which have never been seen before. We talked about the future, two futures really; one sounded like heaven and the other seemed unimaginable. I thought he was teasing me, flirting with me with his brilliance." Jessica said softly. "Now, I'm afraid I only resemble someone he once loved."

I understood how she felt. Her words touched me far deeper than I cared to admit. This went on far longer than I expected. It was the push I needed to see for myself what was in the tree and who Roger was talking to.

"I'll go," I said softly.

"No. Just watch a moment," Jessica said. She crossed the room, shutting off the lights before returning to the sink. We waited for our eyes to adjust. Roger walked around the tree, first in one direction and then in the other as Tilley continued to sit up and beg.

The light he carried flashed into the window and then in and out of the upper branches of the tree.

Slowly, silently, Jessica leaned forward and slid open the window.

It took a moment for Roger to come around to our side of the tree so we could hear him.

"Yes, I agree. He's here now." He spoke hoarsely at the tree, trying not to be too loud. "No. I won't. He's not ready. He wouldn't understand."

"Who's he talking about?" Audry whispered.

"More importantly, who's he talking to?" I added.

"Shush, just watch," Jessica whispered 

Roger wandered around the tree once more before returning to the same spot.

We waited.

From somewhere in the yard, or maybe the house, a low dull drone began. Barely audible, it seemed to vibrate the floor before I actually heard it, like a washing machine on spin in another room. The tone deepened until it seemed to be coming from the center of my chest.

Outside Roger threw his arms wide and yelled, "Hit me, Bob."

Suddenly, a thin beam of bright blue light appeared, a laser for lack of a better description, from somewhere in the upper part of the tree. He arched his back, standing on his toes as if lifted by the light. It struck him dead center in his chest, holding him there for a moment or two.

"Oh, Momma," he cried with excitement and the light vanished. He crumpled to the ground on his hands and knees…  laughing like a madman.

"That's the fourth time. I've asked, but he won't tell me," Jessica said flatly and crossed the room to turn the light back on. "You ask him, Ben."

Triple Detective

TRIPLE DETECTIVE

$13.46 each, from ALTUS PRESS www.altuspress.com Contains both new and original pulp hero characters.

TRIPLE DETECTIVE #1 With the release of the new series, three important stories are included in the first issue for the pulp fan. Norman Daniels' "The Happiest Hour Murders" was written as a Phantom Detective entry in 1934, but rejected, and published later with all reference to the Phantom deleted removed from the story. When the Black Bat folded in 1953, Stewart Sterling's "The Lady of Death" was left unpublished, and appeared later, with all traces of the Black Bat removed. These two stories have been restored to their original characters and published here for the first time. The Secret Agent "X" story, "The Stolen Formula" was originally written and published in Greece in 1950, and this is its first American publication in English. TRIPLE DETECTIVE is being published in the pulp format of old, and for the pulp collector, and fan of the character pulps, this will quickly become a collector's item in itself. Basically, these are three "lost" stories from the heyday of the character pulps.

TRIPLE DETECTIVE #2 Back for another issue, this time featuring the following stories. DOCTOR DEATH RETURNS by Steve Mitchell: Twenty years before, a sinister madman held the world at bay, using the twin powers of science and sorcery to unleash a crimson tide of murder and destruction that swept across America and Asia. Then he disappeared-leaving no clue as to his final fate. MURDER MUSEUM (featuring The Phantom Detective) by K.G. McAbee: The Phantom Detective, that nemesis of all evildoers in New York City, takes on the uncanny powers of the sinister Dr. Darkness! And CRIME'S LAST STAND (starring The Masked Avenger) by Tom Johnson: Will evil win out? Can even The Great Masked Avenger survive the final battle with the city's underworld when crime makes its last stand!

TRIPLE DETECTIVE #3 Back again for another issue! Thrill to the all-new adventures of The Black Bat, The Phantom Detective and The Masked Avenger! Written by G. Wayman Jones, Robert Wallace, and Tom Johnson.

TRIPLE DETECTIVE #4 The largest issue from the relaunched Triple Detective! This time enjoy these stories: THE GIBBERING GAS OF MADNESS by Capt. Kerry McRoberts. When Scientist working on military weapons mysteriously go mad, The U.S. Government fears a foreign power at the source of the evil and G-2 calls in their top secret agent, The Eagle. But this time his foe may be the greatest spy in the world - And the most beautiful. Will Jeff Shannon also fall victim to her womanly charms? CITY OF PHANTOMS by Robert Wallace. When an old case resurfaces, The World's Greatest Detective is pulled back into a new battle with a deadly enemy, while ex-Fighting District Attorney Tony Quinn's lovely secretary, Carol Baldwin is kidnapped by a vicious mob, hoping to force the prosecution to drop it's case against their Boss. Two champions of Justice meet in a race against time! PLAGUE OF DEATH by Tom Johnson. A German scientist has brought a virus to America to aid in the Brown Shirts taking control of the United States for Hitler. To test the virus, the scientist releases it on a Chicago orphanage, killing all but one child. The Masked Avenger puts the child, a young Korean boy, under his protection, while a Chicago policeman and young Korean woman also watch over him. But when the boy is kidnapped, the trail leads the Masked Avenger to New York, where he must uncover the German scientist and stop the virus from killing everyone in the great city. A wild ride, as the German mob and Brown Shirts combine to bring America to its knees while Hitler concentrates his army on Europe! Can one man, even such as the Masked Avenger, succeed when America looks to be doomed? An additional surprise is in store for the readers with THE LEGEND by Tom Johnson. In this short story, The Legend returns to bring justice to an old hoodlum! This giant issue also contains a Phantom Detective comic not reprinted in THE PHANTOM DETECTIVE COMPANION.