Tag Archives: thriller

by | February 24, 2018 · 5:00 am

Gone Viral – Blitz

 

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A Miles Stevens Novel, Book 3
Suspense/Thriller
Date Published:  February 15, 2018
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It has been months since Miles Stevens, a time traveling CIA agent for the Department of Historic Intervention (DHI), has seen his former partner, Terri King.
Upon returning from his most recent assignment, Miles learns Terri and her new partner, Dr. James Brock, have been transported from 2050 and their offices in Langley, Virginia to thwart a bioterrorist assault on the 2032 Olympic Games in Sydney. A genetically altered chimera virus was used in the devastating September 1st attack, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths. It was never determined who was responsible, but AQIA, a terrorist organization from North Africa, was suspected.
Miles demands to join Terri and is transported to August 18, 2032. Terri is surprisingly cool to Miles’ return, having decided a life with a risk-taking CIA agent may be too stressful. Not giving up on their relationship, Miles gives her time and space.
The strong-willed Brock attempts to lead the investigation from Atlanta and win the support of Terri, but Miles has other plans. He follows his instincts to investigate a reported smallpox outbreak near Moscow, where clues mount and peril rapidly surrounds him.
Death, danger, and diversions lie ahead. Terri is torn between supporting Brock and following Miles to Moscow. With time running out, the CIA trio will need to come together if they are to stop the historic September 1st attack.
Other Books in the Miles Stevens Series:
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Melting Sand
A Miles Stevens Novel, Book 1
Years of unsuccessful nuclear arms negotiations in the Middle East had finally resulted in warring countries facing off with unthinkable destructive powers. Regional flare-ups had escalated and geopolitical dominoes had tumbled, finally leading to a horrific 48-hour interchange that erased cities and forever changed the region and the world.
The war was already in the history books when Miles Stevens and Terri King were sent 23 years into the past to relive a botched CIA mission — a mission intended to prevent the 2027 Middle East War. They landed at O’Hare International Airport with no memory of who they were, who they left behind, or why they were there. Their memories were gradually restored by their CIA superiors as they orchestrate Miles and Terri’s mission from their Pentagon offices in the year 2050.
Iranian subversives, acting alone, intent on fueling the war’s progress, had been alerted to the couple’s arrival, putting them in danger the second they landed in Chicago. In the coming months, Miles and Terri faced the challenge of daily survival, the challenge of intercepting the events leading to the war, and the challenge of what to do with their growing love that was two decades before its time.
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Cyber One
A Miles Stevens Novel, Book 2
Coordinated cyberattacks were launched against the U.S. on May 8, 2020, destroying vast electrical grids of its largest cities, sending them into darkness and chaos. In the weeks and months that followed, thousands of citizens perished, the American economy collapsed, and gang law ruled. The source of these attacks remained a mystery.
Miles Stevens, a time traveling CIA agent with the Department of Historic Intervention (DHI), ended his last mission stranded in 2028, never knowing if his partner, Terri King, made it safely home to 2050. Before returning to learn Terri’s fate, Miles is given another DHI assignment–travel back to 2020, join the newly formed Cyber One counterterrorism team, and avert the May 8th cyberattacks.
From Cyber One headquarters in Fort Meade, Maryland, Miles and his team pursue the cyberterrorists to remote outposts in Russia and the Middle East. With the May 8th deadline looming, Miles Stevens once again races against time to alter history.
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 Excerpt
PREFACE
Year – Somewhere between 2020 and 2050
BODY AND MIND DETACH during journeys across time.
      Einstein was the first to theorize such travel was possible, but it took more than 100 years after his death to put his theory into practice.   Elaborate technologies were developed to convert mass into protons for the time-altering voyage, and then upon arrival, convert them back to their original form.
Protons can’t think, yet Miles Stevens firmly believed he had thoughts, or maybe dreams, during his trips from one decade to the next.  Returning from his most recent mission, his vision of Terri King was vivid.  He anticipated her greeting, arms extended, smile bright.
Without his body to limit what his mind imagined, everything seemed possible. Miles wondered what it would be like to be suspended indefinitely passing through time.  He concluded the thoughts were euphoric, but thinking wasn’t as satisfying as doing.
Hope sustained Miles during his last mission: hope that Terri was safe and hope that they’d be reunited.  The desperate look on Terri’s face as she was forced into the time capsule had never left Miles’ mind.  Left alone two decades in the past, he could do nothing to save her.  But Miles’ wait was nearly over.  He was about to learn if Terri had made it home to 2050.
MILES HEARD THE DOORS of the time capsule snap open and felt the rush of fresh air filling the cabin.  He squinted as his eyes adjusted to the florescent light of the reentry room.
He could see Dr. Jones, standing stone-faced outside the capsule door.  Miles scanned the open space before him, but there was no sign of Terri.
It had been nearly a year since Miles had seen his former partner.
Where is she?  
About the author:

A dog lover, blogger and author of several novels, D.R. (Donn) Shoultz hails from a small town in central Illinois. He and his wife Claudia have called North Carolina home for more than 20 years. Donn writes at their mountain retreat off the Blue Ridge Parkway where Claudia shares her editorial experience in shaping his novels, and where they both enjoy hiking nearby wooded trails with their dog, Milo.
Donn turned his focus to writing in the fall of 2010 following a 32-year career in corporate America that took him around the world. His ongoing writing projects include posting regular thoughts to his blog, submitting short stories to competition, and working on his next novel.  Having recently finished the third book in the Miles Stevens series, GONE VIRAL, Donn has begun a murder mystery set in the foothills of North Carolina.
Donn’s short stories have received recognition in national writing competitions. Blending captivating characters with suspenseful plots, Donn strives to appeal to a broad range of readers. His books include:
•           Corrupt Connection
•           Better Late Than Ever
•           Melting Sand – A Miles Stevens Novel #1
•           Cyber One – A Miles Stevens Novel #2
•           Gone Viral – A Miles Stevens Novel #3
•           It Goes On – Short Story Collection #1
•           Most Men –  Short Story Collection #2
You can find Donn’s books on Amazon and Goodreads, or go to drshoultz.com to learn more about his writing.
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by | February 12, 2018 · 5:00 am

Supremacy’s Shadow – Blitz

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Science Fiction / Thriller
Date Published: February 9, 2018
Publisher: SF Productions
 
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For Hayden Cross, a military investigator in the far future, whether his wife faked her death is the question that is probably going to get him killed. Having lost the only job that kept him sane, he has few resources and fewer leads. Oh, and a sadistic crime lord really wants to kill him.
As he fights through an underworld of fanatical rebels, callous bounty hunters, and corrupt cops, each step takes him closer to the truth about his wife’s fate and the oppressive government he once loyally served. On the way he may even liberate a planet and stop a war … but only if he betrays everyone he loves.
Excerpt
Nathan Pierce was very dead, and Hayden hadn’t killed him.
Pierce lay sprawled on a maintenance walkway beside the maglev track: a tunnel that smelled like plastic and wet biocrete. An oozing red line split his very thick neck. The small pool of blood beneath him was expanding, and Hayden didn’t have to touch it to know it was still warm.
Pierce still clutched his submachine gun, highly illegal on the best of days, but its magazine was missing. The basketball-shaped bomb Pierce had carried into this tunnel hadn’t exploded when he died, which was good, but the red light on top of it was blinking fast, which might be bad. Hayden wasn’t a bomb technician, and though he’d called the people who were — those almighty assholes known as the Supremacy — he wasn’t sure if they were still taking his calls. They had sort of fired him.
Blinking red bomb light aside, the decidedly unlive state of Nathan Pierce changed Hayden’s plans for the night. Braving a hail of bullets to stop a bunch of taxpayers from exploding had seemed acceptable when chasing Pierce was his only option, but getting blown up now, with the threat over, seemed rather unnecessary. He had better things to do tonight than die.
He looked down the walkway in both directions for any sign of Pierce’s killer, but found nothing. Embedded LED lamps lit the narrow metal gantry every twenty meters for as far as he could see, but he didn’t see anyone dumb enough to carry a live bomb out of this tunnel. He had just reached down to pick it up when all the lights went out.
Boots hit the walkway behind him as Hayden drew his pistol and aimed in that direction. He didn’t fire, of course, because he couldn’t see, and also, he was out of bullets. Pierce’s body armor hadn’t come cheap.
The lights flipped on to reveal a woman in a black riding suit and combat boots with knife holsters, but no knives. A hoverbike helmet hid her face. She was shorter than he was, athletic, and absolutely Pierce’s killer, given the blood rorshached all over the front of her suit.
“Easy, Hayden.” The woman raised two blood-stained gloves. “I sent you the intel on Pierce.”
Hayden kept his pistol on her anyway, out of principle. “Thanks?” He pointed at the body with his other hand. “I think you got him.”
“Pierce isn’t the reason I called you.”
“Okay.” He’d heard this woman’s voice somewhere before, though he couldn’t place it at the moment. “Is that bomb going to explode?”
“No. I called you, Hayden, because I have a job for you.” The woman pulled off her helmet to reveal short black hair, pale blue eyes, and a light brown face with soft cheekbones. “You’re free now, right?”
Hayden breathed as five minutes of gunfight tension bled out through his toes. “I have hobbies.” He knew exactly who this woman was, now, and he also knew he’d just been played.
Morna Solace was a trusted informant who had passed him information about the Patriots of Ceto for years. A woman who looked a lot like his dead wife. Even with Dani thirteen years gone, that still tugged at him, but that didn’t excuse her prank call.
“You obviously had this handled before I flew all the way out here,” Hayden said, keeping the fact that he’d just been unnecessarily shot at from his voice, “so why the bait-and-switch?”
Morna dangled her helmet in one hand, not guilty, exactly, but not as confident as she’d been a moment ago. “I couldn’t risk the Patriots or the Supremacy learning we’d met. Luring you here with an anonymous tip was the best way I knew how to do that. I can’t trust this to the Spacenet.”
At least Morna was sufficiently paranoid. “You know the Supremacy is on their way here now, right?”
“I do. I’ll be quick. Three weeks ago, Tyler Ryke abducted my daughter.”
“Well,” Hayden said, as he remembered Morna’s ruthless and wealthy ex-husband. “He is a crime lord.”
“Tyler’s beyond that now. He’s gone as sadistic as I’ve ever seen him, torturing for fun and pleasure, and I’m afraid of what he’ll do to Cassie if she tries to escape again. Last time she tried to sneak away, he caught her. Then he made her boyfriend explode.”
Hayden sympathized, he really did, but custody battles were messy even when both parents weren’t trained killers. “You must know dozens of people who could get Cassie back for you.” Dozens of terrorists, anyway.
“None of them know Star’s Landing like you. None have your experience or contacts. Also, I’m willing to trade a message from your wife.”
Hayden’s mind blanked a moment — just a moment — before snapping into focus. He remembered speeding toward his and Dani’s burning home, rushing into the still smoking wreckage. Tripping over Dani’s severed arm. Anger and guilt twisted his gut as the audacity of Morna’s lie made him want to kick that bomb down the tunnel. “My wife’s dead.”
“I thought so too.”
“The Supremacy verified her DNA. I put a bullet in the man who killed her, and I’ve been hunting his Patriots since.”
“I wouldn’t lie to you about something this important,” Morna said, “and I can prove it to you. Danielle said to ask you about Bucky’s cairn.”
Hayden blinked and backed a step.
“That means something to you, doesn’t it?” Morna’s face lit up. “Who is Bucky? A friend from childhood?”
That name conjured a painful memory of a speeding autotruck and his illegal dog, their illegal dog, the crunch and the yelp. Morna shouldn’t know about that. He and Dani were the only ones who knew about that, about Bucky the big dead dog.
Hayden remembered the little rock pyramid Dani piled on Bucky’s grave fifteen years ago. A cairn, she called it. An old word from old Earth.
“I never planned to blackmail you,” Morna said, “but like you said, I don’t have a lot of options.” Her voice gained just the tiniest of trembles. “I can’t lose Cassie. I couldn’t get past it.”
Her eyes held his, wet and fearless and so much like his wife’s, and Hayden recognized her desperation because he’d felt it himself. When he chased down everyone involved in Dani’s murder. When he sent them into orbit or put them in the ground.
Danielle Cross was dead, and she would always be dead, but she had trusted whoever sent Morna this message. Trusted them enough to tell them about the day her illegal dog jumped in front of a truck. Hayden needed to find out what was in this message.
He needed to find whoever sent it.
“Sure.” Hayden forced his nails out of his palms. “I could get Cassie back for you, but Ryke will come after her. He’ll probably try to kill me too, and that gets real annoying.”
Morna knelt and ran a glove along the tunnel wall. “Once you get Cassie out, Ryke won’t be a problem for anyone.” She pressed something, and a maintenance hatch popped open. “She has the image sync to Ryke’s PBA.”
That impressed him. A Personal Brain Assistant, or PBA, was a brain-mounted computer. Ryke’s PBA was where he stored records related to all his illegal deeds, and if Cassie told the Supremacy how to access it, Ryke would be headed to orbit before he finished screaming at his attorney.
The howl of an approaching maglev train rose in the tunnel behind him, and the light on Pierce’s bomb blinked faster. “Say, uh, Morna?”
“Yes?”
“You’re sure that thing isn’t going to explode?”
She tossed him a tiny metal key as the train grew louder. “The blinking light means the detonation key’s missing!” She opened the maintenance hatch. “That’s the detonation key!”
Hayden pocketed the key and shouted over the train noise. “How do I let you know when I have Cassie? Getting shot at isn’t my favorite approach!”
“I’ll know, and I’ll find you!” Morna wriggled into the narrow vent. “Get my daughter back for me, and I’ll help you find your wife!”
The hatch slammed. Hayden dropped beside Pierce’s body as a sound like a jet engine roared up on him. He knew the maglev’s passage wouldn’t suck him off the walkway — physics didn’t work like that — but knowing and believing were very different. The world howled as a bunch of angry air boots pummeled him in a parade.
He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t see. Then the train was streaking away, leaving him with a healthy ringing in his ears and a new appreciation for public transit. He rolled onto his back and took one painful breath.
Metal footfalls echoed in the tunnel, and Hayden tilted his head up to squint in their direction. He recognized two Supremacy Vindicators approaching at an awkward jog. Powered armor didn’t sprint.
The Supremacy’s elite soldiers wore suits of black nitinol, armor immune to small arms and marked by golden stripes. Their sealed helmets had reflective plates in front, and the last thing you saw, before they shot you, was your own face staring back.
On the upside, they were still taking his calls.
Hayden hauled himself up on the guardrail and stared at another dead terrorist and another homemade bomb. If Morna hadn’t stopped Pierce, there would be a whole lot of people splattered across this tunnel right now. He’d take the win and the credit if it kept her out of the Supremacy’s sights.
“Sir?” a Vindicator asked. “Is this the Patriot you reported?” His voice sounded flat behind his modulator. “Is that his bomb?”
Lying to the Supremacy about a meeting with a Patriot sympathizer was as good as signing his own death warrant. That wouldn’t stop Hayden from lying, of course. He’d just have to be real sneaky about it.
“This man was a thug working for Tyler Ryke.” Hayden pulled the detonation key from his pocket. “Now he’s a terrorist as well, which means you boys will get a medal or something.” He tossed the key at the Vindicator, and they both watched it bounce off his knee. “Also, you’re welcome.”
Hayden was going to Star’s Landing. He was going to save Cassie Ryke from her brutal father. It didn’t matter if Morna was lying to save her daughter, or if the Supremacy executed him for treason.
Either way, he might still get to see his wife.


About the Author

T. Eric Bakutis is an author and game designer based in Maryland. He is happily married and shares his house with a vicious, predatory cat and a sad-faced, cowardly dog. He’s been working as a professional videogame developer for over eight years. His first fantasy trilogy, Tales of the Five Provinces, is now complete, and his first science fiction novel, Supremacy’s Shadow, is due in February 2018.
In his spare time, Eric hikes with his lovely wife, little girl, and crazy dog, spends time in VRChat exploring the metaverse, and participates in local events like the Baltimore Science Fiction Society Critique Circle. His first novel, Glyphbinder, was a finalist for the 2014 Compton Crook Award, and his short fiction has appeared in several magazines and anthologies.
You can read his free cyberpunk police procedural, Loose Circuit, at www.loosecircuit.com
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by | February 8, 2018 · 5:00 am

All Systems Down – Release Blitz

 

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Thriller
Date Published: 8 February 2018
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24 hours.
That’s all it takes.
A new kind of war has begun.
 *
Pak Han-Yong’s day is here. An elite hacker with Unit 101 of the North Korean military, he’s labored for years to launch Project Sonnimne: a series of deadly viruses set to cripple Imperialist infrastructure.
And with one tap of his keyboard, the rewards are immediate.
Brendan Chogan isn’t a hero. He’s an out-of-work parking enforcement officer and one-time collegiate boxer trying to support his wife and children. But now there’s a foreign enemy on the shore, a blackout that extends across America, and an unseen menace targeting him.
Brendan must do whatever it takes to keep his family safe.
In the wake of the cyber attacks, electrical grids fail, satellites crash to earth, and the destinies of nine strangers collide.
Strangers whose survival depends upon each other’s skills and courage.
 
For fans of REVOLUTION and Tom Clancy, ALL SYSTEMS DOWN is a riveting cyber war thriller that presents a threat so credible you’ll be questioning reality.
Excerpt
Downtown went dark.
Brendan had been walking with a small group toward the pedestrian bridge when it happened. Every light from every skyscraper, every shop, and every window flickered and winked out. Up and down the skyline, street lights blackened. Bridge lights, harbor lights, streetcars, storefronts—everything succumbed to darkness.
There should have been a noise to accompany the blackout. A loud bang. The explosion of a transformer. The pop of electrical wire. But there was no sound of any kind. Just the gasp of people on every side of Brendan.
About the Author

Sam has worked as a wildland firefighter, journalist, and owner of a mid-sized marketing agency. Though he’s lived in France and Spain, his heart belongs to Portland, Oregon, where he lives with his wife, Tehra, two wonderful children, and a messy cat that keeps them from owning anything nice.
ALL SYSTEMS DOWN is his first novel, with more to come.
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by | January 26, 2018 · 5:00 am

Dead Air – Blitz

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A Glenn Beckert Mystery
Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
Date Published:  October 2017
Publisher: Mill City Press
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Dead Air signals trouble at the radio station. Glenn Beckert discovers his high school best friend is shot in the head while on the air. Beck, the owner of Blue Water Security, is employed to provide security for the station.
He becomes willingly embroiled in the investigation by the not-so-innocent widow. The list of potential suspects is long, gleaned from the numerous extramarital affairs of the victim and widow. The pending sale of the radio station has created friction between his now dead friend, Richie Zito and the major stockholders. Motives for murder becomes increasingly murky after the search reveals an encrypted file on Zito’s laptop.
Beck enlists the help of an old flame, Irene Schade, to break the code, revealing a money laundering network leading to the financial and political powers of his beloved city of Pittsburgh. Their collaboration ignites the flames of passion each had considered extinguished.
A former college teammate, police Lieutenant Paglironi delivers a message to back off. Arrogantly, he ignores his friend’s advice. The threats from less friendly sources are more ominous, forcing Beck to move in an unfamiliar world. A startling revelation from his client forces Beck to deal with his inner conviction of right and wrong, challenging the gray areas of his ethical principles. Betraying his client’s confidence could expose the killer. The alternative is to confront the suspect and take matters into his own hands. Either way his life is in jeopardy.
About the Author

Cliff Protzman was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA.  Cliff’s family relocated to Northeast Ohio when he was in high school.  Immediately after graduation he returned to his hometown to attend the University of Pittsburgh.  Cliff planned to major in journalism and write the great American novel. Instead, he switched to Business Administration and began a 30-year career in accounting and finance.
Cliff rekindled his passion for writing acquired as a reporter for his school newspaper. He published his first novel, DEAD AIR: a Glenn Beckert Mystery in September 2017. Cliff also writes short stories. He was a winner in the Unfinished Chapters anthology in 2015
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by | January 22, 2018 · 5:00 am

First to Fight Box Set (Books 1-5) – 99¢ Sale

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First to Fight Box Set (Books 1-5)

by Nicole Blanchard
Publication Date: April 10, 2017
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Military, Romantic Suspense, Thriller, Mystery

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On SALE for 99¢ for a limited time!

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Enjoy four full-length novels and a bonus novella at a discount price for a limited time from the thrilling military romance series by New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Nicole Blanchard.

Book 1, Anchor

Gabriel Rossi has never met her, doesn’t even know her name, but the former Marine turned Coast Guard will do anything to rescue the woman who saved his daughter, even if it means risking his career, his life–and his heart.

Book 2, Warrior

Benjamin Montgomery returns home from his last tour in Afghanistan a broken man and learns the night he shared with his best friend’s little sister resulted in more than just smokin’ hot memories.

Book 3, Survivor

Jack Walker doesn’t want anything to do with the woman who broke his heart–or at least that’s what he keeps telling himself as they embark on a poignant journey through the secrets that tore them apart.

Book 4, Savior

Logan Blackwell has never let a suspect–or a woman–get away and made it his own personal mission to solve the recent attacks plaguing his small town with the help of his intriguing new neighbor.

Book 5, Honor (a First to Fight novella)

Scott Green doesn’t believe in second chances, until he’s caught off guard by a kiss from a beautiful woman and is determined to win her back.

Next in the series…

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Preorder for 99¢: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | iBooks | Google Play

I thought I knew better than to make the same mistake twice.

To say I’ve never had good taste in men in as an understatement.

When I met brooding Marine Ford Collier, I was certain he’s different than anyone else I’ve ever dated. He was honorable, charming, and sinfully dangerous in all the right ways.

But I’ve been wrong before.

My first lover ruined my life. And Ford may destroy my future.

My heart tells me he’s innocent, but the facts tell me I’m wrong. Again.

Going against the only family I have left could mean losing it all for a man who may be a traitor.

About Nicole Blanchard

Nicole

Nicole Blanchard is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of gritty romantic suspense and heartwarming new adult romance. She and her family reside in the south along with their two spunky Boston Terriers and one chatty cat.

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