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August 12, 2020: Murder, sex trafficking, and drugs

August 12, 2020: Murder, sex trafficking, and drugs

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It’s the dog days of summer. Recently, American Indian sovereignty over reservation land in Oklahoma has been in the news, which reminded me of a true crime book I read this spring—Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI. It’s a great read about a series of murders in Oklahoma in the 1920’s with some surprising twists.

Still hammering away on book 9, where there’s a subplot involving sex trafficking, which is a bigger problem than you might think. Here’s a link to some background research, if you’re into reading up on it.

https://humantraffickinghotline.org/type-trafficking/sex-trafficking

And from the “you can’t make this up” file, here’s an article about a pharmacist arrested in a plot to firebomb a rival. Really. Not kidding.

Click on the image to find the article

Finally, if you’re into free eBook promos, here’s two I’m participating in:  The Dial M for Murder—Mystery & Crime Giveaway and The August Crime Giveaway. As usual, you get a free eBook for an email list signup. Hope you find something you like! Here’re the links:

Dial M: https://claims.prolificworks.com/gg/1DjzSWR1VGuxX8iqb3DK

August Crime: https://books.bookfunnel.com/crimegiveaway/wpyjsx57pe

That’s all for now. Happy reading!

June 23, 2020: Summertime Reading and the Dark Web

June 23, 2020: Summertime Reading and the Dark Web

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Hope you’re enjoying your summer, getting some time to relax and read some fun books.

Recently read James Lee Burke’s The Last Car to Elysian Fields, which is a classic Dave Robicheaux crime thriller, featuring a lot of south Louisiana local color and a solid hard-to-figure-out crime.

Another series I really like is Alan Furst’s Night Soldiers novels, which are spy novels set during and just before World War 2. If you like history, and a well told tale, you’ll get a kick out of these.

I’m hard at work on the Travelers book 9 (no title yet), which starts out with some dark web shenanigans. Here’s a link where you can learn some background about the dark web, if you care for that sort of thing.

https://www.csoonline.com/article/3249765/what-is-the-dark-web-how-to-access-it-and-what-youll-find.html

Finally, if you’re into free eBook promos, here’s one I’m participating in:  The Art of the Arcane Suspense and Thriller Giveaway. I think it’s got enough new books to make it worth a look. As usual, you get a free eBook for an email list signup. Hope you find something you like! Here’s the link:

https://books.bookfunnel.com/aota-thiller-giveaway-1506/9j6nwd80wx 

That’s all for now. Happy reading!

May 22, 2020: Thicker Than Thieves is out now!

May 22, 2020: Thicker Than Thieves is out now!

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It’s the official release day for Thicker Than Thieves: The Travelers Book 8 (eBook version)!

To celebrate the release, book 8 is $0.99 everywhere through May 28. Then the price goes up to $4.99. Here’s the link:

https://books2read.com/u/megY8g

Here’s the list of the other special promos to celebrate the book 8 release. So if you know someone who’d like to try the series, now is their chance.

The Traveling Man: The Travelers Book One—Free through May 26.

The Computer Heist: The Travelers Book Two–$0.99 countdown deal through May 28.

The Blackmail Photos: The Travelers Book Three–$0.99 countdown deal through May 28.

The Freeport Robbery: The Travelers Book Four–$0.99 countdown deal through May 28.

On my Thicker Than Thieves Amazon page, I can scroll down to see the complete series, but if that’s not what you see on your page, here’s the link to the series page where you can find all these deals:

(Sorry that the countdown deals are only in the US and the UK, but Jeff Bezos has made it clear that I don’t make the rules.)

Here’s the book 8 description if you haven’t seen it:

Mob diamonds, white nationalists, and Middle Eastern jihadis …

On the prowl to steal a crime cartel’s diamond shipment, the Travelers zero in on the smugglers—an Iranian American pair of brother and sister oriental carpet importers. They have twelve weeks to manipulate the smugglers, figure out the details of the diamond delivery, and escape with the diamonds without tipping off the cartel.

But Middle Eastern jihadis hoping to create chaos in the US and white nationalists intent on a terrorist act bigger than the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing also have plans for the smugglers.

And when the FBI gets wind of these plots, the Travelers’ plans are suddenly careening sideways….

Thicker Than Thieves is a roller-coaster ride through a mine field of danger and conspiracy. If you like mind-boggling suspense, unpredictable plot twists, and criminal intrigue, you’ll love the eighth novel in the Travelers series.

***

Hope you enjoy the new book! (Can’t wait to hear what you think.)

April 21, 2020: Safety First

April 21, 2020: Safety First

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Life is still stranger than fiction. I’m taking every precaution and I hope you are too. (Whatever those are wherever you’re at.)

We’re still closing in to the countdown to Thicker Than Thieves: The Travelers Book 8. Everything takes a little longer during the pandemic. In the meantime, here’re a few public service articles:

First, an article that describes what’s going on when you need a ventilator to help you breathe. Scary but important info.

Second, an article about DIY facemasks: what to make them out of, how to make them, and how to clean them. There have been several of these articles. This one is a pretty decent overview, I think.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/04/07/answers-your-diy-face-mask-questions-including-what-material-you-should-use/?tid=ss_mail

Third, a website where you can see international, national and state COVID-19 projections (keeping in mind that projections are only as good as the underlying data):

https://covid19.healthdata.org/

On a lighter note, if you’re into free eBook promos, here’s one I’m participating in:  Message in a Bottle: Mystery and Thriller Group Giveaway. I think it’s got enough new books to make it worth a look. As usual, you get a free eBook for an email list signup. Hope you find something you like! Here’s the link:

https://claims.prolificworks.com/gg/5wcG2E0mPoufqE4fkjVj

Happy reading!

April 13, 2020: Origins of the Travelers

April 13, 2020: Origins of the Travelers

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The Travelers series—how did it come to be? Well, part of it was planning and part was serendipity. But it all began with The Traveling Man…

I wanted to create a crime fiction series that was fun to read, a series of fast-paced books with can’t-figure-them-out plots—a series that combined the sensibility of old school crime thrillers, like those by Richard Stark or Raymond Chandler, with the sensibility of super realistic crime TV shows and movies, like The Wire or True Detective or Breaking Bad.

So I read, or reread, a lot of crime thrillers, focusing on the types of characters other writers were creating. I read John Sanford, Lawrence Block, Patricia Cornwall, Robert B. Parker, Patricia Highsmith, Jo Nesbo, Kate Atkinson, Robert Crais, Michael Connelly, Lee Child, Sue Grafton, just to name a few.

There seemed to be plenty of alcoholic, ne’er-do-well private eyes and cross-the-line cops. Nothing new to add there. And the idealistic do-gooder—well, that really wasn’t my thing.

A con artist, on the other hand, maybe I could do something fresh with that. And so the Traveling Man was born—a seasoned con man, a manipulator who lives by a code to rob only crooks, as he defines them, a grifter with only one weakness—his wife.

But as I began to write the story of the Seanboro land grab and explore the possibilities of the various criminals and criminal wannabes who were hoping to get rich, the wife became a more and more important character.

By the time the story was finished, it wasn’t just about the Traveling Man, but about the Traveling Man and his wife, and how the nature of their relationship affected their choices. The two of them pitted against a crime boss, a gang of thugs, and the cops. Double crosses loaded on top of double crosses in a high-octane, fast-paced chase. And so the Travelers were born.

If you haven’t read The Traveling Man, you can check it out here:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B019DGN21A

Happy reading!

February 25: Diamond Smuggling and Drones

February 25: Diamond Smuggling and Drones

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A quick note…

While doing research for book 8, Thicker Than Thieves, I came across some interesting information about the retail, cash converter, and stolen value of diamonds.

So if you’ve got some stolen diamonds to sell (just kidding), here’s what you might expect. It’s kind of surprising just how fast the price drops.

https://www.quora.com/How-much-money-do-diamond-smugglers-make

Another article that might catch your interest is called These Police Drones are Watching You, which discusses the pervasiveness of police drone use in the US. No matter where you are on the politics of public aerial surveillance (Should you have a right to privacy in your backyard, for example?), there’s some interesting info here.

And if you want to buy one, you’ll find out what the good ones cost.

https://www.pogo.org/analysis/2018/09/these-police-drones-are-watching-you/

That’s all for now. Happy reading!

February 1: Detroit noir and pickpocket scams

February 1: Detroit noir and pickpocket scams

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Just discovered Loren D. Estleman’s Amos Walker series. Finished Motor City Blue (book 1) a few days ago. This book features Amos Walker, a tough guy detective in 1980’s Detroit, on the hunt for a missing woman. Seriously hard boiled and a great, fast-paced read. Estleman is a four-time Shamus Award winner. If you’re not familiar with this series, here’s the link to Estleman’s author page so you can take a look. https://www.amazon.com/Loren-D.-Estleman/e/B000APK5BO

Spend a lot of time researching (more that I’d like), and most of it can be pretty dry stuff. But occasionally I come across something I think you’ll enjoy reading.

Thief hunters in Paradise is a fun website that covers practical tips about how to avoid being taken advantage of by crooks when you’re traveling. It also including short videos of scams and attempted scams. Here’s the link: https://bobarno.com/thiefhunters/

Finally, if you’re into free ebook promos, here’s one I found: February 5-Star Festival of Thrillers. All of these ebooks have an average review score on Amazon of between 4.5 and 5 stars. As usual, you get a free ebook for an email list signup. Hope you find something you like! Here’s the link: https://books.bookfunnel.com/2020-02-fivestarthrillers/5u7amgvxei

That’s all for now. Happy reading!

January 9: Happy New Year and Murder for Hire

January 9: Happy New Year and Murder for Hire

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Right after Christmas, got the chance to visit one of my brothers and his family down in San Antonio for a few days. Had a fun time enjoying the warmth and catching up. (Long line at the Alamo!) But now I’m back to my desk.

Still hard at work on Thicker Than Thieves: The Travelers Book 8. Hoping to make it the best Travelers crime thriller ever. While I’m rewriting and making changes, I’ve been doing some general research reading for the future.

In Harper’s Magazine, I read an article about murder-for-hire scams on the dark web.

The way these scams work is that a bad player thinks they are hiring a murderer, but in fact they’re just being taken. They pay in bitcoin and then the supposed “murderer” disappears with their money without doing the killing.

Or it turns out that the supposed “murderer” is actually the FBI and the bad player ends up charged with conspiracy to commit murder.

The downside is when the bad player, after being ripped off, decides to take matters into their own hands. Could a murder have been prevented if the bad player were arrested earlier?

Here’s the link if you want to check out the article: https://harpers.org/archive/2020/01/click-here-to-kill-dark-web-hitman/

That’s all for now. Happy reading!

December 6: Holiday Book Deals

December 6: Holiday Book Deals

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We just got back from visiting my son’s family. Had a great time playing board games and eating turkey. And we got the bonus of helping to decorate their Christmas tree before we left. But now it’s back to work.

December Holiday Book Deals!

Today through Tuesday December 10

Book 4, The Freeport Robbery is free! (That’s pretty much everywhere.)

Books 1, 2, 3, and 5 are on $0.99 Countdown Deals (I wish Amazon allowed Countdown Deals in Canada and Australia! But Jeff Bezos has made it clear that I don’t make the rules. Sad face emoji here.)

So if you know someone who might like to try the Travelers series, or if you need to catch up, now is your chance. Here’s the link to the series page where you can find the specials: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07F7Q1K9M

But if you’re all caught up with the series, and would like to read an article on international diamond smuggling that I came across while doing some deep background research for Travelers book 8, Thicker Than Thieves, here’s the link: https://www.wordswithoutborders.org/article/lets-deal-a-conversation-with-a-diamond-smuggler

Happy reading!

NOV 5, 2019: Starting on Book 8

NOV 5, 2019: Starting on Book 8

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Wow! The fall is flying by, the leaves are dropping here in Iowa, and I’m working on a new Travelers book—number 8. Its working title is Thicker Than Thieves, and it concerns smugglers, terrorists, and white nationalists—at least for now.

One of the subjects I’ve been researching for this book is how to clone a smartphone; in other words, how to make an exact copy of a phone so that you could use it to do anything the original phone would let you do—use the saved passwords, use the protected WIFI, gain cloud access. The list of illegal behaviors is only limited by the precautions the phone owner took and the ability of your hacker. If you’re interested, you can check out the basis process for copying a phone right here: https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-clone-phone-without-touching-it-4570908

On a celebratory note, the Kirkus Review of The Casino Switcheroo is out. Kirkus calls book 7, “Another full-throttle installment that shows that this crime series has no intention of slowing down.” You can read the full review here: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/michael-p-king/the-casino-switcheroo/

There are also some excellent reviews of The Casino Switcheroo up on Amazon—knowing that I’m writing books that you enjoy really makes my day! I love to hear from you.

Happy reading!