Giant Steps - Thriller #Fiction #Thriller

Patrick H. Moore is here to tell us about his thriller Giant Steps.

Read on for details...

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Thriller

Date Published: September 29, 2025

One last mission…

One final stand...

The fate of freedom hangs in the balance…

Get ready for a heart-pounding ride through the dark underbelly of America in Patrick H. Moore’s latest Nick Crane thriller, Giant Steps.

As the third and final installment in Moore’s gripping Nick Crane versus The Principals trilogy, Giant Steps finds veteran LA PI Nick Crane locked in a life-or-death struggle with the ruthless Marguerite Ferguson and her cabal of aristocratic “super patriots.”

Nine years after he and his team liquidated Frank Constantine, a murderous military shrink and close personal friend of Marguerite Ferguson and The Principals, Nick Crane is hiding out on the edge of the Mojave Desert. He has been fighting for his life for a year now, barely escaping Marguerite’s vendetta at every turn. Now, he and FBI Special Agent Carrie North decide the time has come to turns the tables. They decide infiltrate to the very heart of Marguerite’s evil empire. Crane summons his crew of crackerjack operatives and together they devise a diabolically clever sting operation designed to bring Marguerite to her knees once and for all.

Set largely in current-day Southern California, Crane and his team of freedom fighters represent all common, decent Americans who truly believe in “liberty and justice for all.” Blessed with dry wit and unimpeachable courage, Crane and his crew embark on a relentless quest for truth in the face of corruption and betrayal, even as they fight for their life and freedom in a landscape where only the brave dare to challenge the powers striving to destroy America.

Packed with engaging characters, relentless action, and razor-sharp dialogue, Giant Steps is a scintillating sequel that builds on the momentum of its predecessors, Rogues & Patriots and 27 Days.

 

Are you ready to join the fight? Get your copy today and step into the shadows, face the danger, and take Giant Steps with Nick Crane.

 

Critical Acclaim for Giant Steps:

“In this third installment of the series, Nick Crane and his freedom fighters continue their battle against a group of so-called ‘super patriots’ known as The Principals. A story for our times, the book resonates in today’s political climate. Moore entertains with his clever prose, while giving us something to think about. A great addition to an excellent set of thrillers.” —Joel W. Barrows, bestselling author of the Deep Cover series

“L.A. PI Nick Crane is back, along with his partner, FBI Special Agent Carrie North, in Giant Steps, the final installment of their three-volume battle against the forces of evil, personified by the despicable Marguerite Ferguson and her lethal band of ‘super patriots’. Patrick H. Moore’s prose is electric, pulsing with rat-a-tat jack-hammer energy, that spits out words like bullets. Warning: hang on tight for the ride of your life!” —Charles Salzberg, Shamus Award nominated author of Canary in the Coal Mine and Second Story Man

“Giant Steps is the finale of Patrick H. Moore’s Nick-Crane-versus-The-Principals trilogy. Everything readers have anticipated about the dramatic final battle between Nick and Marguerite Ferguson—with long-suffering FBI SA Carrie North caught in the middle—comes to a thrilling head. Moore delivers, serving up a landscape where only Nick Crane dares challenge the powers intent on destroying America.” —Ken Funsten, CFA; Director, Sisters-in-Crime, L.A. and author of What’s Really Unforgettable

“Spilling over with investigative authority, in Giant Steps Patrick H. Moore weaves a modern PI thriller where freedom fighters and fake patriots wreak havoc across the dark landscape of a desolate yet familiar America. Moore writes with the addictive panache of Lee Child and Vince Flynn.” —John Nardizzi, Shamus award finalist and author of Telegraph Hill and The Burden of Innocence

 

The Full Nick Crane Thriller Series

 

27 Days

A Nick Crane Thriller, Book 1

 

Rogues & Patriots

A Nick Crane Thriller, Book 2

 

Giant Steps

A Nick Crane Thriller, Book 3

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BTR1WLMS

 

 

About the Author

 

PATRICK H. MOORE writes thrillers and crime novels. He is a retired Los Angeles based investigator and sentencing mitigation specialist. Between 2003 and 2024, Patrick worked on over five hundred drug trafficking, sex crime, violent crime, and white-collar fraud cases.

Patrick studied English Literature and Creative Writing at San Francisco State University.

Patrick was one of the founders of All Things Crime Blog, which, in its heyday (2014 to 2017), was one of the most popular crime blogs in America.

In 2014, his first PI thriller, Cicero’s Dead, was indie published by US iNdIe Books. In February of 2023, Down & Out Books published Patrick's PI political thriller, 27 Days, and followed that up with the publication of Rogues and Patriots in April of 2024. Both Rogues & Patriots and 27 Days were finalists in the General Thriller category of the American Fiction Awards, and Rogues & Patriots was recently named a Judges' Top Pick in the Thriller category in this year's Killer Nashville Silver Falchion awards.

Down & Out will be publishing Giant Steps, the third book in the three-volume series in which LA PI Nick Crane fights The Principals, a violent cabal of right-wing extremists, in September of 2025. Down & Out also published Patrick's recent novella Setting the Record Straight.

 

Contact Links

Website

Facebook Author's Page

X --- PatrickHMoore1

Instagram --- patrickhmoore1

TikTok ---- @patrickhmoore

BookBuzz

 

Purchase Link

Amazon

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The Amazing Adventures of Hunter Caine, Soldier of Fortune - Volumes 1-3 - Supernatural SciFi Action Thriller - and a Giveaway #Supernatural #SciFi #Action #Thriller #SupernaturalSciFiActionThriller #Giveaway

JP Wilder is here to tell us about The Amazing Adventures of Hunter Caine, Soldier of Fortune, volumes 1-3, supernatural scifi action thriller.

There's also a great giveaway.

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Join Hunter Caine, a fearless treasure hunter.

Face zombies, uncover ancient secrets, and battle sinister forces in thrilling adventures across the galaxy!

The Amazing Adventures of Hunter Caine, Soldier of Fortune

Volumes 1-3

by JP Wilder

Genre: Supernatural Sci-Fi Action Thriller

Treasure Hunter. Soldier of Fortune. Smuggler.

 

The Amazing Adventures of Hunter Caine, Soldier of Fortune: Volumes 1–3 by JP Wilder is a high-octane sci-fi pulp collection following Hunter Caine—a fearless, sharp-tongued mercenary who takes on the dirtiest, deadliest jobs across the galaxy. Whether treasure hunting, bodyguarding, or battling zombies, Hunter operates strictly freelance, answering to no one but her own code. With fast-paced action, gritty humor, and a dash of lust and laser fire, this trilogy delivers a wild ride through corporate space and beyond.

 

 “I’m Hunter Caine.
Treasure Hunter. Soldier of Fortune. Smuggler.
I’m kind of a bad bitch, you might say.
I do what the chicken-shit Corporation, or the Holier-than-thou Collective are afraid to do.
What they don’t want to do.
And I do it anywhere.
When stuff gets ugly, and things need doin’, I get it done.
I don’t play favorites. Strictly Freelance.
But, I do it all.
And more.
You want something done? Something dirty? Something dangerous? Something distasteful?
Call Hunter. You got the cash. I got the flash.”

  

What readers are saying:

 “a monstrously entertaining short story that can be devoured in one sitting – which, coincidentally – is what would happen to you if you were to fall prey of one of the zombified shamblers spawned by the fiendish Dr. Z.

Hot chicks; alpha males; guns and gore aplenty; unstoppable ghouls; and witty – gritty dialogue that makes you smile all the way through. What can I say, it’s rip-roaring fun! And Hunter Caine is a whole different ball game to your usual lead character; someone who doesn’t care how the job gets done as long as there’s a pay check at the end of it!
If you like your action with graphic novel hotitude, then this adventure is for you.”

 – Goodreads Reviewer

 

“Wow - I didn't quite know what to expect and I liked this so much more than I thought I would. Never have I read zombie-sci-fi-pulp...a fun romp.” – Goodreads Reviewer

  

Amazon * Bookbub * Goodreads

JP Wilder, also known as JP Vile, is a versatile author whose works span fantasy, science fiction, and pulp genres. He’s recognized for the “Hunter Caine Series,” contributions to “Realms of the Dragons II” for Wizards of the Coast, and “The Crusader” series. His storytelling, marked by action and adventure, reflects his diverse experiences as a soldier, wrangler, and professor. Wilder’s narratives often explore chaos, with a writing style that keeps readers engaged and entertained.

  

Website * Facebook * Facebook *  X * X * Instagram * Instagram * Amazon * Goodreads

 

Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway! 

The Amazing Adventures of Hunter Caine

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Changing Woman's Hair - Suspense Thriller - Marin Sinclair Book 2 #Suspense #Thriller

Jan D. Payne is here to tell us about Changing Woman's Hair, book 2 Marin Sinclair, a suspense thriller.

Read on for details...

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Marin Sinclair, Book 2

Suspense Thriller

Date Published: 09/15/2025

Publisher: RabbitHole LLC

When Marin Sinclair discovers teenager Garret Washburn in danger from a deadly conspiracy involving bootlegged alcohol, wolf-witches, an election campaign, murder, and an unknown bomber, she looks to Navajo Nation Police Sergeant Justin Blue Eyes and Federal Agent Cullen MacPherson to help protect Vangie Tso's son from the dark forces at play.

Excerpt

—“It’s likely the same guys,” Franklin whispered. “You need to go for help. Get word to Sergeant Blue Eyes.”

“I can’t go without you,” she said, and Franklin took her hand and pressed it against his side. When she pulled her hand away, it was wet and sticky.

“You’re bleeding!” she said, and Franklin’s nod was dimly visible in the darkness lit only by the fires. “I’ll find something to help,” Marin said, and crawled through the hogan’s entrance, searching by feel until she found several pieces of soft clothing or bedding.

“Hold this over the wound and press,” she said, making a thick pad. She tied the pad around Franklin using a length of bale twine, and he gasped, then sat taking deep breaths.

“Sorry, we need to get the bleeding stopped,” she whispered.

Franklin took another breath and gave a low whistle. A horse broke away from the bunched group and came close to the rails, snorting softly.

“Here is your friend, Otekah,” Franklin said and ducked into the corral. “You must take her and go.”

“Go where?”

Franklin didn’t answer. He took a rope from a corral post and ran the rope behind Otekah’s ears, made a quick turn around the mare’s muzzle, and looped a knot into the side of the make-shift halter. He pushed the end of the rope into Marin’s hands.

“No,” she said. “I can’t leave you. You’re hurt.”

“They’ll soon come looking,” Franklin said. “Trust Otekah to find the way. She’ll be going home.”

“I can’t find my way in the dark!” Marin said.

“She knows the way. There is only one gate to open; our home is near the canyon’s end. You will be able to climb out.”

“No … ” Marin said.

“Climb up to the rim road. Bring back help.”

“Franklin, I can’t climb the canyon wall!”

“There are handholds to guide you,” he said, and he pushed something cold, round, and metallic into her hands … a flashlight.

“I shot one of those Indian kids,” said a man’s deep voice and she and Franklin froze, sinking deeper into the hogan’s shadows. “He ran over here.”

“Lay off. I’m not about to get trampled trying to find him,” a second man answered.

“He’s in here, I know it.”

“He’s not going anywhere. He’s got nowhere to run with this hut built up against the canyon wall.”

“You can either come out or you can bleed to death!” the first man shouted, and there was a sudden blast of gunfire.

Marin yelped, and Otekah reared, yanking the rope from her hands and whirling away. Yuma, his gray coat barely visible, whistled shrilly and kicked against the corral poles until the saplings shuddered.

“I said lay off, you idiot! A pole fence won’t hold half-ton horses! You’ll get us trampled! You don’t even know if the kid’s in there.”

The first man raised his voice. “You hear that, Injun boy? We’re gonna start shooting your horses if you don’t come out!”

“Stow it, Jack! You start shooting and these horses will go crazy. That kid’s not going anywhere. We need to get back to the prisoners.”

“Prisoners,” Marin breathed when the men walked away. “We have to stay and help them.”

“No. You must go, shadi,” Franklin said, making a soft clucking noise until Otekah once more came close, tossing her head as the other horses restlessly circled the corral, stamping and blowing. “My beauty,” Franklin murmured, picking up the trailing rope and looping it around Otekah’s neck.

“This is a bad idea,” Marin said, but she climbed between the corral poles to lean against Otekah’s warmth. The horses were bunched together, pressing hard against the gate poles, anxious to escape, eager to run. Still …

“I’d never forgive myself if you and the others … ”

“You must bring help, tell the Sergeant what has happened.”

There was no one else to go.

When Franklin again pushed the flashlight into her hands, she took it and shoved it into her waistband, then caught Otekah’s mane and rolled onto the mare’s back, catching up the rope in one hand.

Franklin murmured something that sounded like a prayer and slid a pole from the top of the gate. Carefully he lowered one end to the ground, then reached for the next pole and did the same. Even with only two poles down, the horses began to push into the gap, Otekah with them, and Marin clutched the halter rope breathing in the familiar scent of horse—dust, dried grass, musky sweat.

“I’m not sure I can guide her.”

“Just stay on,” Franklin returned.

Marin wrapped the rope tight around her hand and twisted both hands into Otekah’s mane, aware of a familiar rush of excitement, that stomach-clenching tension when Dandy’s muscles had bunched beneath her the second before the rodeo arena gate flew open and they shot forward. She’d done this a hundred times or more, and she bent low to Otekah’s neck, gathering focus.

“Ready … ” Franklin whispered, and he eased the last pole to the ground.

“Franklin, I … ” Marin began, but Franklin stepped back, gave a shrill, yipping yell, and slapped Otekah across the rump, waving his hat as the horses surged forward.—

 

About the Author

Drawing from her own life story in the Four Corners area of the Navajo Nation, author Jan D. Payne offers readers a journey into the heart of the American Southwest in a modern-day romantic suspense series. Writing characters who navigate diverse cultural influences to explore the lines between the seen and the unseen, the modern and the traditional, the present and the past—she creates a world where the impossible becomes possible, and mythical legends come to life.

Jan is a member of Western Writers of America and Women Writing the West. She and her husband live in northern Minnesota with their three big dogs—Kaibab, Rudi, and Orrin. Visit her website at: jandpayne.com

Contact Links

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Stalled Descent - DAG Team Series #4 - Romantic Suspense Thriller - and a Giveaway #Romance #Suspense #Thriller #RomanticSuspenseThriller #Giveaway

Kel O’Connor is here to tell us about her romantic suspense thriller Stalled Descent, DAG Team Series #4.

There's also a great giveaway.

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Stalled Descent

Kel O’Connor

(DAG Team Series, #4)

Publication date: August 25th 2025

Genres: Adult, Romance, Suspense, Thriller

A man forced to work for the enemy and a woman on the run from her past…

For years, ace pilot Archie McKinley has been living a double life. Now that his role as a mole within DAG has been exposed, he has one chance to make things right: take down Elliot Essa, the man who’s held him captive with threats and manipulation for over a decade.

To infiltrate the impenetrable Red Winter compound, Archie needs help from the team he deceived and the one person who truly knows him—Meret Shahid, his childhood partner-in-crime turned photographer. The girl who once earned the nickname “the Imp” in their small Iranian village might be his only shot at redemption. But Meret has her own demons from Red Winter, and returning to the organization she barely escaped could cost her everything.

As Archie grapples with guilt over his betrayal and his growing feelings for Meret, they must navigate new threats, uneasy alliances, and shocking revelations. The mission is clear: destroy Red Winter’s empire and free the innocent families trapped within it.

But the price of redemption may be higher than either of them is willing to pay.

This book is a full-length romance with a happy ending. It is part of a 4-book interconnected series where each book features a different couple.

This is a steamy romance for readers 18+

Goodreads / Amazon

EXCERPT:

The knock on her door had her glancing at the clock. Archie likely wanted her dinner order, even though it was a bit early. She opened the door before she considered her outfit. She’d changed into a tank top and loose shorts after lunch. For comfort. Which, of course, included ditching her bra.

Too late to turn back. She opened the door halfway and hid behind it as much as possible. Surprisingly, Archie walked a few steps into the room instead of remaining outside. When he turned to her, all the moisture in her mouth dried up.

Meret bit the inside of her cheek rather than moan out loud. Gray sweatpants hung so low on his hips, she saw the white elastic band of his underwear. A light dusting of dark hair curled across the top of his chest. There was none on his perfect abs and only a thin trail that began under his navel. The bruises from his recent fight were fading to a greenish yellow along the left side of his torso.

There were scars on his tanned skin, including a long strip across his shoulder, possibly from a knife. On his right bicep, there was a corner of a tattoo showing, but she couldn’t make out the design from this angle. Of course, he was still an agent, maintaining the top-shelf physical fitness that was required. Damn, he was beautiful.

Archie bit his lip, chagrin obvious on his face. He took a deep breath, shook his shoulders, and all the awkwardness fell away, replaced by steely determination. Meret swayed, mesmerized at the transformation. He held her gaze and this time, his voice was strong.

“What happened between us on the boat was good. But we can do much better.”

Shock held her muted. This was not what she’d expected, but oh, was it what she wanted. Her fingers flexed as electricity shot through her in anticipation. She tightened her mouth, loathe to say the wrong thing. Best to let him do the talking.

He continued, “I’m aware my experience and skills are lacking, but I’ve been studying.”

Her mouth fell open, and she managed a single word, “Studying?”

His slow grin was equally charming and sexual, even showing a hint of teeth. Her lungs shrank at least four sizes as she tried to breathe. What was happening? She was 90% sure she wasn’t dreaming. He was not only discussing her and sex, he had smiled.

His voice lowered, and she felt the vibration between her legs. “Yeah. Reading the sexy parts of romance books. I assumed it was better than watching porn made for men.”

Oh, dear God in heaven. Which books? Steamy, spicy, kinky? Okay, she’d gladly take any of the above, even if kinky was not her preference. Her nipples hardened until it was almost painful.

They both chuckled a bit, and he added, “Plus, there are actually helpful instructional websites. I only need someone to test my knowledge on.” His expression morphed to sincere. “Meret, you are the only person I want to touch me.”

Tears stung the back of her eyelids at his confession. What courage it took for him to lay it all out for her. She was honored, but mostly, she was aroused. His fiery gaze roamed all over her body, clad only in the thin tank top and short shorts. His growing erection became obvious under the loose sweats. She stood rooted to the spot in shock, so he moved closer.

He looked feral, reckless, slowly stalking towards her like a predator.

Why did she think he was reckless? Agents were never reckless. They always had a plan. And two backup plans, plus an “oh shit, everything has gone to hell” plan.

What was her plan? Meet him halfway, yank his head down for a kiss? Hold up a hand to stop him? Plot an escape? Oh, hell no.

Suddenly, she didn’t want a plan. It was time to live in the moment. He wouldn’t harm her as long as she held her heart back. Sparks sizzled along her skin, put there by the singular focus in his eyes. For this moment, she would join him in recklessness. Her anxiety broke free, and she waited for him to reach her.

Author Bio:

Winner of the Pencraft Award and The Chill Award and a finalist for The Book Buyers Best Award, The Maggie Award for Excellence and The Carolyn Reader’s Choice Award, Kel lives with her family in the mountains of North Carolina. In addition to reading and writing, she loves coffee, loud rock music, subversive humor and the smell of old books. You can find her online on Instagram, Facebook and at keloconnor.com.

3 Random Facts about Kel:

* She will buy almost anything if it is a hot pink color

* She watches any and every show/movie about crime-fighting, spies, detective work or secret agents

* She and her husband once owned a humor store

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Instagram / X

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Stalled Descent Blitz

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Stranger Still - Literary Fiction - Thriller - and a Giveaway #Fiction #LiteraryFiction #Thriller #Giveaway

George Ochoa is here to tell us about Stranger Still, literary fiction, thriller.

There's also a great giveaway.

_______________________

Stranger Still

George Ochoa

Publication date: August 19th 2025

Genres: Adult, Literary Fiction, Thriller

Paul Inster, a brilliant, insane Columbia college student majoring in English with an undisclosed minor in knives, is in love with graduate student, Tracy Iridio. Seeing her in the library every day, he mistakenly believes she is in love with him and that she is a goddess, Teresa. In fact, the two have never met, and she does not know who he is. When, for the first time, he sees her with her boyfriend, classical history professor Larry Post, Paul sets out to destroy Larry via a campaign of terror. As the campaign mounts, Larry, mystified, tries to figure out who is attacking him and why. Through a series of surprises and confusions, the campaign escalates to murder.

Stranger Still is both a thriller and a literary novel, combining suspense and violence with rich language, webs of cultural allusions, and themes of love and madness.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo

EXCERPT:

Teresa and I often made love, though never in the flesh. To this day the psychiatrists will scrutinize such a statement as if it meant something other than what it plainly says, as if it were the telltale boil of some rare mental pox that might explain the blood spills photographed by the police. But these doctors do not understand love, optics, metaphysics, error, or even good taste. As far as flesh went, I never touched or even talked to Teresa, not until our moral decline had already begun. Before then, seeing the chaste tables that divided us in the Columbia library less than a decade ago, in the middle years of the 1990s, you might have thought Teresa and I were strangers, that she didn’t know I was alive.

I first saw her early in my junior year, a new female sitting several tables away in the Burgess-Carpenter reading room on the fourth floor of Butler Library. She seemed at first like any other of the pretty women on campus whom I liked to ogle and who regarded me as if I were invisible. But the more I stared at her, the more she particularly interested me. A pile of books rested near her elbow on the blond pine table, her head bent with rapt attention over her open book. Hazy September sunlight from the tall windows bathed her small breasts in her magenta top, made the white skin of her forearms glow. Her dark-brown hair was long and luxuriant, her neck long, her face shaped like that of a Raphael Madonna. But what captured me most were her eyes—large, sad eyes, ringed with mauve circles as if she hadn’t slept well. Why was she sad? Was there something I could do to make her happier?

We sat like that for a long time, she near the east end of a table in the back, never noticing me, while I shot frequent glances at her from near the west end of the second table from the door. About twenty feet diagonally divided us, too far for me to discern her eye color, though I tried. Finally, she got up, gathering her books into a white canvas tote bag and walking toward the door. As her gangly frame passed me, I gave her eyes a good look and saw they were hazel, flickering elusively under their long lashes from green to brown to gold.

The thought of her big, sad, long-lashed hazel eyes kept me happy for the rest of my day at Columbia. Even when I boarded the downtown Number One train, the first of the three trains that every evening buried me back in Jamaica, Queens, I was still thinking of those eyes. But an hour and fifteen minutes in the subways will discourage anyone. By the time I left the second leg, the D train, for the final and longest leg, the F, my thoughts were turning dark. The train was crowded with smelly, loam-colored laborers imported from faraway continents, and me just one of the horde.

Most students at Columbia boarded, but because my family was poorer than that of the standard Ivy Leaguer, I was a commuter. Combined with my natural tendency toward solitude, this meant I had no friends either on campus or anywhere else. I longed to make contact with someone, anyone, but did not know how. Sometimes I just wanted to pet them—the young secretary sitting before me on the subway in vinyl jacket and glittery eyeliner—to touch her shoulder, her pulsing throat, and say, “I am here. I am lonely. Help me.” Sometimes I wanted to hit them—the goon in the Yankees cap. When I felt particularly desperate, I wanted to stab them. I had knives that would have fit that purpose, but I never took them out of the house.

Author Bio:

George Ochoa’s first novel is the thriller Stranger Still. In addition, he has written or cowritten thirty-five nonfiction books, including The Book of Answers, The Writer’s Guide to Creating a Science Fiction Universe, The American Film Institute Desk Reference, and Deformed and Destructive Beings: The Purpose of Horror Films. His short fiction has been published in North American Review, Eureka Literary Magazine, Eunoia Review, Bangalore Review, and elsewhere. He is also the author of published poems and essays.

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Stranger Still Blitz

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Wolfsbane Hall - Fantasy - Romance - Thriller - and a Giveaway #Fantasy #Romance #Thriller #FantasyRomanceThriller #Giveaway

Hazel St. Lewis is here to tell us about Wolfsbane Hall, fantasy - romance - thriller.

There's also a great giveaway.

______________________

Wolfsbane Hall

Hazel St. Lewis

Publication date: August 13th 2025

Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Thriller

Phantom meets Clue:

She’s forced to murder to survive—until it’s her turn to die.

At Wolfsbane Hall, a secretive 1930s San Francisco murder mystery club, actress Celestine Sinclair plays a deadly role: executing victims who can only return to life once their murders are solved. Haunted by guilt yet bound by unwavering loyalty, she obeys the orders of the Specter—the club’s unseen mastermind and source of its magic.

But when his nemesis seizes control and poisons her, the game changes. The only way to survive? Solve the night’s mystery and unmask the Specter—an identity that has remained hidden for centuries. Even worse, the three prime suspects are the men closest to her: her lover, her enemy, and her best friend. One of them has betrayed her, and she has only hours left to uncover the truth.

The clock is ticking, the stakes are fatal, and this time, death will last forever.

Goodreads / Amazon

EXCERPT:

Celestine stood in the Red Parlor, waiting for her prey. One minute until he was supposed to arrive, and James Ashbrook was always on time, even as his characters. He believed it was never appropriate to keep someone waiting.

As her character, Celestine raised her lips with feline delight, and she leaned against the side of a lounge like a seductress draped in silk and jewels, waiting for a midnight assignation.

James stormed into the room like a cowboy in a Western film about to rescue his damsel in distress. He walked with purpose, and, without hesitation, he cupped the back of Celestine’s neck and kissed her fiercely.

The kiss was beastly and consumed by unfiltered vigor. Almost as if they didn’t do this every week. But that was the nature of their relationship. They were a wildfire that burned until it would eventually flame out and die.

James was not for keeping.

No rich man was. A lesson she’d learned long ago. Poor girls don’t end up with ‘the man’, even if they desperately wanted to.

Yet James was for fucking and, tonight, killing.

Celestine’s back slammed against the wall as their mouths devoured each other, his hands stroking up her legs and bunching the fabric of her dress up to her core with their movement.

James pulled away, his eyes widening with betrayal. “I’m sorry,” Celestine breathed into his hair as his limbs went limp. “You’re the Specter’s victim tonight.”

Celestine had poisoned her lips with a tranquilizer strong enough to sedate a horse. Only a thin layer of plastic and Specter’s magic kept the lipstick from incapacitating her.

“How are you going to do it?” James croaked as his head lolled to the side.

“Stabbing.”

She caught him as his body slid to the floor.

“Ah…I’ve never been stabbed before.” James smiled, lopsided and bright. A sick part of him enjoyed dying over and over again. He once said it made him feel alive every time he died in Wolfsbane Hall. He enjoyed it so much that he volunteered as a victim, choosing to die every other week.

Although he wanted it and enjoyed it, killing still made Celestine’s stomach churn and her arms quiver.

While he was still conscious, she gripped an ornamental knife from above her head, rolled her hand into the stabbing position, and thrust down.

“Thank you,” he said, blood bubbling from his mouth as he stared gleefully down at his wound. She knew he thanked her for starting while he was still awake to experience it. He wanted to see and feel the knife as it slid in.

Celestine pulled the knife out and slammed it in again and again and again. It was a crime of passion, after all. Her character was overcome by rage and vengeful lust. But all of it made vomit snake up Celestine’s esophagus. She continued her job regardless. Celestine Sinclair was loyal—the perfect employee for her Specter.

Author Bio:

Hazel St. Lewis is a Northern California-based Romantasy author. Diagnosed with dyslexia at a young age, she struggled to read and write, but fantasy stories inspired her to start storytelling. Unfortunately, now, she is a little too obsessed with morally gray characters. When she isn’t writing, she can be found playing with her hoard of cats (too many to count…it’s a problem), singing songs to said cats, or painting.

Website / Goodreads / Instagram / Newsletter

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Blood in the Shadows - Suspense - Thriller - and a Giveaway #Suspense #Thriller #SuspenseThriller #Giveaway

Hawk MacKinney is here to tell us about his suspense thriller Blood in the Shadows.

There's also a great giveaway.

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This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Hawk MacKinney will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

When marine buddy, Gulfport, Mississippi Sheriff asks Craige Ingram for help, Ingram and Buckingham Parish patrolman ‘Badger’ Thomas Boback find themselves in the summertime dogdays of the humid Gulf Coast. With crowded beaches and an undermanned staff, a routine investigation soon becomes anything but routine when indescribable body parts start showing up along the surf, in beachfront cabins, half-buried in bayou wetlands, stashed under freeway bridges, and across county lines. Craige’s search for answers to identifying victims and killer among the crowds of tourists and skin-and-sun partygoers soon makes it obvious the victims have no connection with one another—until conflicting DNA results and haunting premonitions resembling the warnings Craige’s grannie often had become part of the investigation. The jigsaw of abandoned cross-kin offspring begin a horrifying Gordian Knot tangle that threatens anyone who approaches the shadowy ancient wreck of an old mansion - an asylum from a lost time.

Read an Excerpt

During the long haint-ridden nights the craving had become scalding, nearly uncontrollable. The green-yellow eyes withdrew into darker corners of windowless rooms, as flickers of Cajun Grandmère Nana’s weathered face swirled in the mist. Everybody around knew ageless Kreyòl Cajun Grandmère Nana. Some of them truly were believers. They knew what they had seen with their own eyes, and no one was going to convince them otherwise. They’d call to her by her dead half-sister’s spook-name, Momby Bocor. In the shadows of full-moon nights, they’d mumble in a breathless cadence, “Momby Bocor. Momby Bocor. Momby Bocor,” that became more chant than phantom witch-worker. Nana’s soft Acadia dialect in her New Orleans patois gave a pleasing lilt to the dapples of moonlight, her outline sauntering the back yard beneath the sprawling sheen of the swamp magnolia’s thick leaves. Not a hair was out of place in the golden red crown circled atop her head. Her frayed sweet gum twig swizzled back and forth in toothless twitches. Time-wrinkled eyes looked, mesmerized, toward the full silvery orb. She could almost see ancient Luna rising out of the gentle watery laps of the Gulf, reflected in the ripples and washing the sandy beaches. Nana often warned her gran’chil’ Ramona about the waxing madness that came from the blinding dazzle of the full moon. Lots of folks shrugged her off as a tiddly old crone passing her unnumbered days and nights inside her own world. Yet Nana’s houseplants never got frost burned, and her early flower beds and vegetable gardens were never planted before the last freeze. Ramona didn’t shrug off her Gran’mere Nana who was sharpened by the clean brisk air spilling among the haints and steamy haunts of bayous that would stay warm until spring. Then would come the days of warm Gulf air piling into big dark thunderheads, and the offshore waters would froth into elegant capped grey plumes. He could hardly wait. Sharp mangled grubby teeth chewed the lower lip pulling it raw. Blood oozed. The wet tongue did a quick taste, fed the perpetual lust. The craving hunger was always there. With the cloudy moon it would make for a cozy night to roam so long as Richard didn’t find out. It would make for good hunting.

About the Author:

Hawk MacKinney has authored several award-winning works of fiction that include THE MOCCASIN HOLLOW MYSTERY SERIES and THE CAIRNS OF SAINCTUARIE SCIENCE FICTION SERIES. His historical romance MOCCASIN TRACE was nominated for the prestigious Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction and the Writers Notes Book Award.

Cross-genre character-driven plots reflect Hawk MacKinney’s southwest upbringing along the Texas and Oklahoma borders. With postgraduate faculty positions in several medical universities, Hawk MacKinney has taught graduate courses in both the United States and Jerusalem.

Website: http://www.hawkmackinneyauthor.com

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Shadows-Hawk-MacKinney/dp/B0FG47PDSV/ref=sr_1_1

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