"If I pay
with my life, you will pay with yours."
The Surreal Killer
Machu Picchu. Peru
Showing posts with label suspense. Show all posts
Showing posts with label suspense. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
NEW RELEASE: LIFE SENTENCE, ROMANTIC SUSPENSE BY CAROLYN ARNOLD
Friday, May 24, 2013
MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND SPECIAL-HALF-PRICE SALE
For the Holidays, my two short novels in the Roger and Suzanne mystery series are available from Amazon KDP for $0.99 (normal price $1.99), and for £0.65 in the UK. This is less than half their normal price, so is a very good deal. Click on the links indicated or on the book covers to the right to go directly to the Amazon home page for either Kindle book.
"The Body in the Parking Structure" is a hard-boiled mystery that
features characters from the author's popular South American mystery novel
series working on a murder case at home in Los Angeles. The clues are all
there: Can you figure out whodunit before Roger does? 4 Stars based upon 9
reviews.
US LINK: http://www.amazon.com/Body-Parking-Structure-ebook/dp/B008PDV9WC/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343432381&sr=1-1&keywords=the+body+in+the+parking+structure
UK LINK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Body-Parking-Structure-ebook/dp/B008PDV9WC/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1343488846&sr=1-1
"The Body in the Bed", a suspenseful 4.4-star
whodunit novella (7 reviews), brings Roger and Suzanne back to Montevideo,
Uruguay where another bloody murder needs to be solved.
UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/South-American-Mystery-Series-ebook/dp/B00A1PZZ86/ref=sr_1_6?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1352084384&sr=1-6&keywords=the+body+in+the+bed
Saturday, March 16, 2013
I THINK THAT I SHALL NEVER SEE, A WEVIEW AS PWETTY AS A TWEE
I came
across a review of “The Surreal Killer” on the book’s Amazon UK site (only £1.93 for the
novel). The reviewer thought the book
was “too twee” for them. I think this is
one of those classic cases of Americans and British being separated by a common
language. At least for me it was a new
word, which sent me quickly to the nearest dictionary.
Before I
share the definition with you, a word about the novel is in order here, I
think. The storyline is about a serial
killer who murders in a particularly brutal fashion with a machete. The murderer kills ten victims, with two of
the killings described in detail in the novel.
Several other killings by others are mentioned in one place or another
in the book, and another killing is described as it occurs. All in all, an impressive body count I
thought.
“Twee”
means excessively cute or delicate.
That’s an interesting way to describe multiple murder and
dismemberment. I find it difficult to imagine
my hard-boiled mysteries as being delicate.
But that’s the fun of being a reader---in the end the book is whatever
you the reader want it to be.
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Bulgaria is Not South America
Today we feature a guest post by fellow "travel adventure" suspense writer Ellis Shuman, author of Valley
of Thracians, currently available from Amazon.
In
considering a guest post for the South American Mystery Novels and Stuff blog I
was hesitant, as Bulgaria, the country featured in my new novel, is not located
in South America. However, like many of the books listed here, the story of Valley
of Thracians takes place in an exotic location, quite off the beaten track
for Western tourists.
For those
who aren't ready to board a Bulgarian Air flight to Sofia, I can offer
something else, a chance to learn about the wonders of Bulgaria through the
pages of my novel.
Valley of
Thracians is a
suspense novel. There is a missing Peace Corps volunteer and buried treasure.
However, I would classify it as "travel fiction", in that the
location, Bulgaria, plays as important a role in the story as the main
characters.
My wife and
I lived and worked in Sofia for two years. During that time, we traveled
extensively around Bulgaria, learning the country's history and culture,
climbing its mountains, sunbathing on its beaches, shopping in its stores,
visiting its villages, eating its traditional food, and learning a bit of
Bulgarian along the way. Okay, we didn't learn that much Bulgarian. We made
many friends and in short, fell in love with the country.
Upon our
return to our permanent home in Israel, I found it hard to tear myself away from
the feeling of living in Bulgaria. To solve this aching, I turned to my
writing. I had previously published a collection of short stories, The
Virtual Kibbutz, which was very Israeli in subject matter. Now I decided to
try something totally different - a novel about another country.
I believe I
have succeeded it telling a bit about Bulgaria and I hope that readers will
appreciate the chance to learn about this unique place while they take a
suspenseful journey by reading my book.
Valley of
Thracians is now
available for Kindle at Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Valley-of-Thracians-ebook/dp/B00B68J114
Ellis
Shuman's blog may be found at http://ellisshuman.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Tich's New Review of The Matador Murders
"I enjoy reading Mystery novels, I love
the excitement and solving problems. The Matador Murders is a pretty fast paced
and well written Mystery. Roger
and Suzanne are called Montevideo to help solve a murder. In order to find the
killer and free their friend from murder charges they must investigate the
members of the two gangs that are at war. Someone is killing for leadership and
they must figure out who this is. Jerold
Last did a great job creating The Matador Murders. The characters were
fantastic and the storyline was great."
From:
From:
http://lovesallthingsbooks.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-matador-murders-by-jerold-last.html?zx=de3ef21597754e19, Monday, January 7, 2013
Thank you, Tich.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
The Surreal Killer, an Excerpt
He
always thought of this part as cutting the calf out of the herd. The problem: Pick up the woman somewhere, somehow without any witnesses
to the event. The solution this
time: he found her hitchhiking
late at night on the deserted street in a poorly lit part of town. He stopped the rented car and offered
her a ride. She looked at him,
decided he was safe, jumped in the car, congratulated herself on her good luck,
and asked if he was heading towards the next town.
"Yes,
I am. Where can I drop you
off?"
"Anywhere
near the middle of town would be great."
"You've
got it."
The
car started off in the right direction.
"Can
I offer you a little brandy? It's
cold out there," he said.
"I'd
love a sip or two."
He
removed a flask from his pocket and passed it over.
"Thanks
a lot," she replied, and took a long slow swallow. She returned the flask to the driver.
Five
minutes later the long-acting drug in the brandy had worked its magic and she
was completely helpless. Wide
awake, but totally unable to move or speak. She stared at the driver with terrified eyes. The driver steered the car onto a dirt
road and drove about half a mile into the woods. After stopping the car, he came around to the passenger
side, and pulled her out onto the ground.
She noted that there was grass and dirt in the clearing. He pawed her body for a few moments,
but didn't seem interested in undressing or sexually assaulting her beyond the
unwanted touching. Out came his
syringe, and with a few well-coordinated movements he injected a few mL of
fluid directly into her jugular vein.
The powerful drug did its work and she was now completely paralyzed.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
A Preview of Coming Attractions, 1
The fourth volume in
my South American mystery novel series, "The Matador Murders", is complete and
ready to publish this summer, pending a few more rounds of editing, and
formatting of the front matter.
For those of you who’ve visited this blog and might be interested, this
is a preview of coming attractions.
There may be some minor changes between this and the final version.
In this installment of
the series Roger and Suzanne are back in Montevideo after being summoned from
Los Angeles by a late night phone call.
One of their friends is suspected of murder and needs their skills as
detectives to help clear him of the charges. Life for Roger, and especially for Suzanne, is more
complicated these days as they now have an infant son, Robert. The three of them, accompanied by
Robert’s nanny, Bruce, fly to Uruguay and the game is afoot. Before long we have our heroes directly
in the middle of a gang war, off for a quick trip to Chile to learn all about
the local crime scene, and meeting some unlikely allies in their mission. The book has lots of action, a good
whodunit storyline, guest appearances by several old friends and by an old enemy
from previous books in the series, "The Ambivalent Corpse" and "The Surreal Killer", and occasional opportunities
for sightseeing and eating regional specialty foods. I hope you all have as
much fun reading this novel as I had writing it. A short excerpt from the current draft of the book follows:
Chapter 1. Adios to a crooked cop
Early that day, Jose Gonzalez, in his usual
role as a detective on the Montevideo police force, had a loud and highly
acrimonious argument with his partner.
Martin Gonzalez, the partner, was proud of two things. The first was that he and Jose were not
related despite the common surname.
The other was that he was the ranking half of the partnership and could
say whatever was on his mind with no real fear of the consequences. Martin was in fact a Detective
Lieutenant and the officer with the second highest ranking in the detective
division after his Captain, fortuitously not named Gonzalez.
Saturday, May 26, 2012
A Novel Idea
My
second South American mystery novel, “The Ambivalent Corpse”, is set mainly in
Montevideo, Uruguay. The premise is that our heroes find parts of a
dismembered corpse on a rocky stretch of beach in Montevideo, apportioned
equally between the Memorial to a German cruiser sunk in World War II and the
Memorial to Jews killed in the Holocaust. Because of the murder victim’s
strategic location shared between two antithetical monuments, the Uruguayan
press names her “The Ambivalent Corpse”.
I got
the original idea for this book’s title and basic premise when my wife and I
took a walk in Montevideo in 1999 and we saw that strange juxtaposition of the
two monuments. As you can tell from the dates, it took a while for me to
find the time to sit down and start writing the book. I remembered the Graf Spee Memorial, which was a favorite
spot for snapshot taking among the university students I knew, from my first
stretch of living in Montevideo in 1982, but I didn't remember the Holocaust
Memorial from my earlier visit. Perhaps
this shouldn't be too surprising since the memorial was first dedicated in 1995.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Pat Canella (The Dockland Murders)
I'd like to introduce you to Alan Place, a Indie science fiction and fantasy writer from Great Britain whose most successful book thus far is a P.I. mystery novel, The Dockland Murders, starring a tough female sleuth, Pat Canella. Rumor has it that there is interest in this book from a few traditional publishers.
Alan is a presence in the blogosphere and can be found several places, including Facebook:
To whet your appetite, a short excerpt from the book follows:
Alan is a presence in the blogosphere and can be found several places, including Facebook:
The Dockland Murders can be found on Amazon (UK and US) at:
I stood there,
the gun still warm in my hand, barrel smoking from the gun battle.
“Why did he do
that, Sarge? I tried my best to
talk him out of it.”
“Living with
the guilt finally got to him, Patti.”
“Couldn’t he
have talked it over?”
“No, the only
thing worse than being a dirty cop, is being the son of a loose cannon, and
none came looser than Bill Chart, Patti.”
I looked
around. There lay the body of
Bill's son, my ex-partner, Adrian Chart.
“I had no
choice, he pulled first, Sarge," I said through my tears.
“I know, Patti,
we all saw it. Nobody blames
you. It was his way out.”
The last thing
I remember was the Sarge saying in a soft tone, "Take a week off Patti,
something like this will haunt you. I know. I have been there myself.” Dazed, I stood there, trying to
remember how it had all started . . .
* * *
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