Edge of Redfish Lake - Suspenseful Thrills

 

Edge of Redfish Lake

By Conrad Jungmann Jr

Ripples from one of the lakes hidden away in the Pacific Northwest spread a legend about the redfish that returned to the lake to spawn every year on their brutal trip upstream. Stories have been told of numbers so massive a person could walk across the lake on the backs of the fish. A crimson, red blood glow described generations ago inspired many people through time.

Now it's 1988 and Seattle is on the brink of the Alaska fishing season start. There's much activity in this staging city for people heading up to work for the short summer. University graduate Julian Hopkins is on top of the world with a promised news reporter job starting after he returns with his hard earned paychecks from his last fishing summer. In another part of Seattle more sinister preparations for an Alaskan journey are underway, murder.

Alaskan fishing is not for those weak in determination. The author's description of this seasonal marathon is gripping in its physical strain, workers' interactions, and stunning wilderness beauty. This year there are also some ominous and terrifying events that leave many involved shaken to the core.

When Julian Hopkins returns from Alaska a possible serial killer is reported on the loose and Julian has an assignment on this big story. It turns out that this will be the story of his life, and in fact it may mean his life or death. Julian finds himself up against the honed, merciless wits of a twisted murderer.

This novel fascinates the reader on every page with the conniving depths and complex toying with evidence and clues to turn law enforcement in circles. Every page teases with the suspense of where the twisted trail will lead next and who is the next victim to wander into a waiting, deadly trap. Along with the mystery, this story wrestles with some important and enticing questions about the science of law enforcement, and the court system.

The author Conrad Jungmann Jr. writes this vivid and gripping story from a skilled perspective. He earned his Master’s in Journalism at the University of Missouri before embarking on a twenty-year career in journalism and digital marketing. He's never forgotten the Alaska adventures of his youth and this book is a thrilling way to share stories of that life. EDGE OF REDFISH LAKE is Conrad’s debut novel and feature screenplay. Conrad lives in Lynnwood, WA. with his wife and three children. He's an avid fisherman and outdoorsman.

Debriefing The Dead

 

Debriefing The Dead

By Kerry Blaisdell

Hyacinth Finch is having a tough day. She's found a mysterious rock that has mystic powers. She had no idea that Demons, and also the brutal Sicilian Mob are in deadly pursuit to steal it from her. After the bad guys murder Hyacinth and her sister, they carry away the rock in triumph and with horrific intentions. Now dead Hyacinth starts intense negotiations with Archangel Michael, who is Debriefing The Dead. She wants to get her life back, in order to protect her innocent 7 year old nephew from a life growing up in the Mob. But in order to agree, Michael wants an ominous task completed in return.

After Hyacinth is reunited with her nephew Geordi. She's determined to keep him safe, and at the same time she has to begin a dangerous search ordered by Michael. She must recapture the rock by a meaningful and unmovable deadline, or risk dire consequences for failure. Demons, and the Mob have hidden it, are guarding it, and are on to her. She has to keep her mission secret from everyone. She gets some surprising help. Her gratitude is tempered by her uncertainty about what honestly motivates the aid from her mysterious neighbor Jason, and Eric who is a dead man who is stuck wandering the world unable to find his way to the after life.

Yes, dead people populate the world. No, you can't see them, but other dead people can see them and talk with them. Now that she's formerly dead, Hyacinth enlists Eric's help. It does make things complicated with Jason and Geordi who think she may be turning crazy, talking to no one they can see. They travel to Turkey and begin a stealthy search to rescue a specific, powerful rock despite powerful demons, the Mob, the mystery of where the rock is hidden and what it will do. Still, there is some time for the very human celebration of life, humor, adventure, family, and even romantic attraction.

Award winning author Kerry Blaisdell has written a powerful urban fantasy. Debriefing The Dead is the first of her series. The story is full of action, yet the author finds time to create fascinating and colorful characters without slowing down the page turning pace. The descriptions are so visual and exciting. Find out more about the author at her website kerryblaisdell.com and tune into YouTube's A Novel Talk with Kerry Blaisdell to hear directly from the author.

The First To Lie - But Who Will Die?

 

The First To Lie
By Hank Phillippi Ryan

Come on undercover for an exciting investigation into a Pharmaceutical company's business behind the counter, along with the actions of the owning matriarchal family, and the motives of the next generation poised to inherit. On the surface all appears as expected with a family of privilege and with a well-known company. That's on the surface. When an investigative reporter dives in behind the pretense, she uncovers deception. But who was The First To Lie, and could that firt lie have led this reporter into a life life and death threatening story? When all is not as it seems, is it possible to find where the truth is buried?

“Without any sneaky fine print and knowing everything you know, if you could start your adult life over as someone else, would you do it?” Sometimes getting what you want can only be done disguised as someone else. But then, who else may know that and be working against you? This reporter is heartbroken by the stories she hears from some women who were betrayed. What actions will deep grief drive a person to? What actions will be considered by a person seeking revenge when they feel they've been wronged and their future has been stolen from them? Once a person will lie, what else will they be willing to do.

Bestselling and award winning author Hank Phillippi Ryan has created a thriller that never lets up until that final of several twists, as you turn the final pages. This skilled author artfully executes an intricate plot filled with intrigue, and with such style that it will keep you questioning and digging deeper for clues and revelations on every page. The characters caught up in all this turmoil are fascinating and their motives and personalities are revealed over time. This author guides you clearly through the cast, including those creating their own disguises.

Bestselling author of twelve thrillers, HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN has won five Agatha Awards in addition to Anthony, Macavity, Daphne du Maurier, and Mary Higgins Clark Awards. As on-air investigative reporter for Boston's WHDH-TV, she's won 36 Emmys and many more journalism honors, and her work has resulted in new laws, criminals sent to prison, homes saved from foreclosure, and millions of dollars in restitution for victims and consumers. A past president of National Sisters in Crime and founder of MWA University, Ryan lives in Boston with her husband, a nationally renowned civil rights and criminal defense attorney.

Find out more from Hank Phillippi Ryan when she appears on The Investigators Book Group in a live chat at 11:00 am on September 30th. Join The Investigators Book Group on Facebook and ask the author your own questions, or you can view the recorded event afterwards.

Purse-Stachio Makes A Splash

Savor Summer a little longer with this beach read mystery! Just $1.99 

Haunting At Spook Light Inn

Haunting At Spook Light Inn

By Alicia Dean

Camille left Miami for Devil's Promenade. Her visit to this small town in rural Oklahoma is a quest. She searches for a legendary light, one with haunting effects sparkling in the sky without explanation, or predictability. This phenomenon appears only to some, and over the span of time the story has grown. It has become an epic tale. What is it? Camille plans a brief investigation, resulting in a sensational write up disproving any paranormal activity, followed by a quick mailing of her book to her impatiently waiting editor. At least, that's her plan. That is until her curiosity leads her straight into an extrasensory mystery.

Camille had left home in a hurry. She knew little about the Spook Light Inn at the time she made a hasty reservation and prepaid for her stay. She's determined no one will discover her own hidden, personal reason for running away from home with the sudden excuse to write this story now. She intends to bury that pain deep, in a dark and secret place within. No one will know about it, except the ones who caused it. 

When she gets out of the car and looks at the unique and intriguing inn it's a chilling feeling, something quite unsettling that passes through her. She can't identify a specific cause for her hesitation, and she has no idea as she crosses the threshold that this will be a life altering assignment.

As Camille checks in she meets the unusual staff members who keep the Inn running. She also meets an apparition visible and sensed only by her. Camille wants to deny her senses and refuse to believe, and yet the ghostly woman is too persistent to be ignored. Camille senses that she's being driven toward an ominous conclusion.

There are few other guests, and yet when Camille wanders the rambling inn there are parts of it strictly forbidden to walk or visit. The owner of the inn, Declan Rush is surprisingly inhospitable and reclusive, and alluring. There is an attraction there. His personality mystifies Camille and so does the Haunting At Spook Light Inn.

Award winning author, Alicia Dean writes in a variety of genres, among them, paranormal, suspense, and romance. She loves creating spine-chilling stories that keep readers on the edge of their seats, and she sure does that well. Haunting At Spook Light Inn is part of A World of Gothic which is a Gothic Mystery Romance Series. It was Alicia Dean's vision to invite authors from around the world to share a Gothic mystery novella set in their own country. Find out more about the author at her website aliciadean.com, and tune into YouTube's A Novel Talk with Alicia Dean to hear directly from Alicia Dean.

This Is How I Lied

This Is How I Lied

By Heather Gudenkauf

Maggie Kennedy-O'Keefe is ready to take a break from her unmarked police patrol duties. She's eight months pregnant, but not interested in going on full leave quite yet. She's assigned a cold case to take a new look at with today's investigative tools, to find the person in their town who brutally killed a teenage girl. Maggie is familiar with the case. Her father had been the police chief until he retired, and he'd spent many years dedicated to working on this mystery. But that's not all. Maggie is familiar with the murder because Eve Knox, the murdered girl was her best friend. Fifteen year old Maggie had been the one to find her body.

This mysterious thriller will keep you guessing from beginning to the very end. Intriguing suspects are revealed and each of their intertwining stories include twists none of them knew about each other. Passions, ambitions, and regrets surface in everyone as Maggie moves forward through clues and evidence. In a new light, motives and secrets surface and there are discoveries. Is it true that people don't change, or does time change everything? Who is it that has got away with murder? And what everyone reveals when they confess that This Is How I Lied will lead to the most difficult decision of Maggie's life.

Maggie does not want to return to this agonizing time of her life, and yet she is somehow drawn to find this killer and close this case for her friend, in her memory. But it's the memories that now torture Maggie. She is determined to follow through and put all this to final rest, regardless of how close danger falls to her own family, and to herself.

Author Heather Gudenkauf has a true talent at suspenseful writing. The story weaves back and forth between Maggie's active investigation days, and the teenagers' lives. The reader is fully engaged in the evidence, the intense characters, and the terrifying choice Maggie is forced into.

Heather Gudenkauf is an Edgar Award nominated, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. She has spent her career after graduating from the University of Iowa with a degree in elementary education working with students of all ages. She continues to work in education as a Title I reading coordinator. She lives in Iowa with her family and a very spoiled German Shorthaired Pointer named Lolo. She enjoys spending free time with her family, reading, and hiking. 

Find out more from Heather Gudenkauf when she appears on The Investigators Book Group in a live chat at 11:00 am on August 26^th. Join The Investigators Book Group on Facebook and ask the author your own questions, or you can view the recorded event afterwards.

What Hidden Pictures Reveals

Hidden Pictures

By Johanna Flynn

Desperation and regret are a volatile basis for a friendship, or a relationship. Yet these powerful emotions draw together two unlikely souls who are each at very different, pivotal forks in the road of their lives. Gordon's ancestors illustrate a glowing history of celebrated life tales as one of the founding families of the town. Gordon owned a hardware store for many years, but when he lost it due to hard times he took a job with the conglomerate that took it over. He lives in the Victorian family home and is a bit of a recluse since his wife died years ago. Ahead of himself he views only a creeping journey toward imminent retirement. Literally running into Gordon's life and home is Olivia, a struggling high school student and nearby neighbor. The troubles in her life are overwhelming and force her into relentless situations where good choices are hard to find. She's isolated, lonely, and misunderstood.

Have you viewed the Hidden Pictures of your life? These are not the happy selfies, or beloved portraits, or happy times, or special places. These are the truths that are hidden away because they are so hard to face. Some are literally photos, and some are shots within a person's soul. This book is a view of a small community of people struggling with what they hide from others, and from themselves. Can facing these hard truths ultimately bring some happiness? And how can compassion soften that blow? As this awkward friendship has its starts and stops between Gordon and Olivia, it's revealed how very critical this time in their lives is for each of them.

Around them neighbors and coworkers are playing out the drama in their own lives, and keeping hidden what they want to be private. There are people in this community who have literally kept hidden real photographs that tell a hideous, true, criminal story. These gruesome photos are the evidence that can stop the malicious assaults that are occurring in their town. But who are the people who are hiding this evidence? It's not just the attacker. What are their motives? And will the photos and the truth be found before any other innocents are brutally hurt?

Hidden Pictures is an examination of how the generations can help each other. They can learn from each other. The author, Johanna Flynn, has crafted fascinating characters and their situations are all too realistic, and very human. We are what we have allowed ourselves to become. If we face what is hidden, could we be more? Maybe, with a little help from friends.

Author Johanna Flynn has spent many years working with adolescents and seniors in schools, clinics and community settings. She lives in Olympia, with her husband and dog.