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Category: My Publishing Journey

February deals

February deals

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Just got back from a cruise on the Nile River in Egypt. Temples, tombs, and mummies! Very cool. Now I’m ready to get back to work. I’ve finished the manuscript for the new Travelers thriller. I just have to tighten it up and choose a title, and I’ll be ready to send it off to the editor. In the meantime—

February 3 (today) through February 9 (Monday) Travelers eBooks 1-7 and KD Thorne eBooks 1-3 are discounted from their usual prices to $0.99 US. That’s seven thrillers loaded with complex scams and double crosses as the Travelers try to outwit and rob other criminals and three suspense-filled adventures as Thorne and Blunt risk their lives tackling intricate national security cases.  

So if you need to get caught up on either series, now is your chance.

Here’re the links to the Amazon series pages, where you’ll find the discounted books as well as the more recent ones.

KD Thorne: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09B8614W4

The Travelers: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F7Q1K9M

Happy reading!

Fortune Favors the Dead

Fortune Favors the Dead

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The KD Thorne Thrillers

Between moving to Los Angeles and celebrating the holidays, I’ve fallen behind on writing the latest Travelers crime thriller. But now the holidays are over, we’re all moved into our new place, and I’m getting back in gear. Hoping to make this new book the best Travelers book ever.

If you’re looking for a mystery to read in the meantime, last month I read Fortune Favors the Dead (Pentecost and Parker Mysteries Book 1) by Stephen Spotswood, a 2021 Nero Award winner.

This is a detective and sidekick novel in the Sherlock Holmes style that takes place in 1942. The eccentric detective who’s always one step ahead is Lillian Pentecost, but here the narrator sidekick, Willowjean Parker, is anything but a Dr. Watson. She’s a working-class ex-circus performer with a protective streak and an eye for trouble.

The case involves a rich woman murdered in her home after a séance at a Halloween party. It’s a classic locked room mystery, with lots of well-placed red herrings that keep you guessing as to who did it: a family member, a disgruntled employee, the spiritualist from the séance. Every character has an important role to play. Lots of fun!

Happy reading!

PS: If you’re new to the reader group, I want to thank you for signing up. In this newsletter, I share mysteries and thrillers I’ve been reading and keep you updated on my books—what I’m working on and when a new Travelers or KD Thorne book will be released. If you haven’t had a chance to check out all my books, here’s the link. https://www.amazon.com/stores/Michael-P.-King/author/B00W81SHBI

Quarry

Quarry

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Last month I read Quarry, the first of the Quarry series by Max Allan Collins (2015). Quarry is the alias of a contract killer who works for a man he knows only as “the Broker.” He’s an ask-no-questions, get-the-job-done kind of guy, similar in a way to Parker, the Richard Stark thief.

On this outing, he’s sent to a small Iowa town on the Mississippi River to murder a man who seems to be an innocuous nobody, but when the job blows up, he’s on the trail to discover who double-crossed him.

Tight plotting, carefully drawn characters, and suspense-filled action make for a fun read.

Happy reading!

PS: If you’re new to the reader group, I want to thank you for signing up. In this newsletter, I share mysteries and thrillers I’ve been reading and keep you updated on my books—what I’m working on and when a new Travelers or KD Thorne book will be released. If you haven’t had a chance to check out all my books, here’s the link. https://www.amazon.com/stores/Michael-P.-King/author/B00W81SHBI

The Black Swan Mystery

The Black Swan Mystery

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The KD Thorne Thrillers

Howdy,

Still unpacking from my move to Los Angeles, but I am getting back to work on my new Travelers thriller. In the meantime, last month I read The Black Swan Mystery (1960) by Tetsuya Ayukawa. This is a Japanese railway murder mystery where the police detectives have to discover the murderer and break down their alibi.

During a union strike, the owner of the mill being struck is murdered. The owner has a reputation for ruthlessness and tough bargaining. Was the murderer a union member or a business associate or someone from his personal life? Chief Inspector Onitsura and his team have to sift through the evidence and interview all the suspects to uncover the murderer while the murderer is killing more victims to cover their tracks. (Don’t want to give away if it’s a him or a her.)

This is a classic, old school mystery revolving around railway timetables, mistaken identity, and confused timelines, where the evidence finally leads to a surprising (I think) ending. Lots of fun.

Happy reading!

PS: If you’re new to the reader group, I want to thank you for signing up. In this newsletter, I share mysteries and thrillers I’ve been reading and keep you updated on my books—what I’m working on and when a new Travelers or KD Thorne book will be released. If you haven’t had a chance to check out all my books, here’s the link. https://www.amazon.com/stores/Michael-P.-King/author/B00W81SHBI

Happy October!

Happy October!

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I’m in the middle of moving, which means I’m not making any progress on the new Travelers book. I hope to be back to writing next week.

In the meantime, to show my appreciation to all of you, Travelers eBooks 1-6 and KD Thorne eBooks 1 and 2 are discounted to $0.99 US until October 13. That’s six thrillers loaded with complex scams and double crosses as the Travelers try to outwit and rob other criminals and two suspense-filled adventures as Thorne and Blunt risk their lives tackling intricate national security cases.  

So if you need to catch up on the early books or have a friend who’d like to give them a try, now is your chance.

Here’re the links to the Amazon series pages, where you’ll find the discounted books as well as the more recent ones.

KD Thorne: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09B8614W4

The Travelers: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F7Q1K9M

Happy reading!

Blue Lonesome

Blue Lonesome

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Just finished reading Blue Lonesome by Bill Pronzini (2014). This is a classic mystery story. Jim Messenger isn’t a detective. He’s a lonely guy in a dead-end job who takes an interest in a lonely woman who commits suicide. He wants to know why, which takes him from San Francisco to her hometown in the Nevada desert, where unsolved murders are the key to understanding what led this woman to take her own life. To solve the murders, he must confront the belligerent locals, who don’t want him snooping around.

This is a complex, entertaining mystery where key characters grow and change, which makes this a very satisfying read.

Happy reading!

PS: If you’re new to the reader group, I want to thank you for signing up. In this newsletter, I share mysteries and thrillers I’ve been reading and keep you updated on my books—what I’m working on and when a new Travelers or KD Thorne book will be released. If you haven’t had a chance to check out all my books, here’s the link. https://www.amazon.com/stores/Michael-P.-King/author/B00W81SHBI

The One from the Other

The One from the Other

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There’ve been a lot of new signups to the reader group. Thank you to all the new folks joining us. In this newsletter, I share mysteries and thrillers I’ve been reading, and keep you updated on my books—what I’m working on and when a new Travelers or KD Thorne book will be released. If you haven’t had a chance to check out all my books, here’s the link. https://www.amazon.com/stores/Michael-P.-King/author/B00W81SHBI

Last month I read The One from the Other by Philip Kerr (Bernie Gunther book 4). I’ve written about an earlier book in this series. Bernie Gunther is a wise-cracking, Nazi-hating, German ex-cop private investigator. On this outing, he’s trying to eke out a living in Munich in the immediate aftermath of WWII. Poverty, food rationing, and Germany divided into the US, French, British, and Russian zones make up the background for this mystery.

He’s been hired to find out if a woman’s husband is dead so that she can remarry, a simple enough job. But events quickly turn into a labyrinth of double-crosses where he’s on the run from the cops and criminals. Beautifully complex and emotionally detailed.

Happy reading!

The Contract Killers release—as promised

The Contract Killers release—as promised

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As promised, there’s special eBook pricing from April 22 through April 26 to celebrate the release of the new Travelers thriller, The Contract Killers, which is only available on Amazon. 

Travelers book one is free, Travelers books 2-6 are $.99, and The Contract Killers (book 11) is $2.99. Here’s the link to the series page where you can see all the deals.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07F7Q1K9M

And here’s the blurb for The Contract Killers:

When you make your living robbing criminals, you never know when your time is going to run out.

After the Travelers cheated the Orange Hill Cartel, the cartel sent a team of contract killers to hunt them down. Now every job the Travelers try, the killers close in, disrupting the scam just as the Travelers are about to cash out.

So the Travelers have gone to ground in the Colorado mountains, hiding in a cabin up a dirt road. After they run out of money, they take a short-term job robbing an embezzling banker in Rocky Shore, Missouri, hoping to get in and out before the killers can find them.

But when the killers crash this job, the Travelers barely escape after a shootout on the city streets. Can they stay one step ahead of the killers long enough to hatch a plan to deal with them and get the Orange Hill Cartel off their backs for good?

The Contract Killers is a cat-and-mouse cross-country race against time. If you like unpredictable plot twists, criminal shenanigans, and nail-biting suspense, you’ll love the eleventh novel in the Travelers series.

…

So there you have it. Hoping The Contract Killers is the best Travelers book yet! So pick up your copy at the discounted price and catch up on the earlier books if you haven’t read them yet.

Happy reading!

The Contract Killers

The Contract Killers

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Got back from my daughter’s wedding last week, so I’m a little bit behind. (The wedding was great, everything went as planned, had a chance to visit with relatives I haven’t seen in a while. Lots of fun!)

Still finishing up the last few details for the release of the new Travelers book, The Contract Killers.

Here’s the description:

When you make your living robbing criminals, you never know when your time is going to run out.

After the Travelers cheated the Orange Hill Cartel, the cartel sent a team of contract killers to hunt them down. Now every job the Travelers try, the killers close in, disrupting the scam just as the Travelers are about to cash out.

So the Travelers have gone to ground in the Colorado mountains, hiding in a cabin up a dirt road. After they run out of money, they take a short-term job robbing an embezzling banker in Rocky Shore, Missouri, hoping to get in and out before the killers can find them.

But when the killers crash this job, the Travelers barely escape after a shootout on the city streets. Can they stay one step ahead of the killers long enough to hatch a plan to deal with them and get the Orange Hill Cartel off their backs for good?

The Contract Killers is a cat-and-mouse cross-country race against time. If you like unpredictable plot twists, criminal shenanigans, and nail-biting suspense, you’ll love the eleventh novel in the Travelers series.

As per usual, there will be special pricing on some of the earlier books in the series, as well as a discounted price on The Contract Killers, during the first few days after the release. I’ll let you know all the details when the release date is certain.

Happy reading!

The Contract Killers and A Hell of a Woman

The Contract Killers and A Hell of a Woman

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I’m just finishing up Travelers book 11, now titled The Contract Killers. Here’s what the cover looks like.

Meanwhile, a thriller I read last month.

A Hell of a Woman by Jim Thompson (1953). Frank “Dolly” Dillon is a man with a bad job, bad marriage, and very few scruples. He’s angry and blames the world for the choices he’s made. When he sees the opportunity to steal a large sum of money and run away with a beautiful young woman, he concocts a plan that quickly spirals out of control.

This is a seriously hard-boiled noir crime thriller, which is the kind of book Thompson is famous for writing. In the 1980’s, there was renewed interest in his books because of their re-release by Black Lizard Press. I read several of them back then, but not this one. Now all his books are in Mulholland Classic editions, so they’re still available.

Happy reading!