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November 3, 2020: Reading suggestions

November 3, 2020: Reading suggestions

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Bought a gas fire pit for the back porch so we can extend our outside time farther into the fall. So far, it’s been a great place to drink Saturday morning coffee and watch the birds at the feeder.

The Dark Web Scam: The Travelers Book 9 is still being edited. Hope it’s going to be a great addition to the Travelers series.

How could a little murder-for-hire scam go so wrong? The Travelers and a computer hacker are operating a dark web con, taking cash from suckers who think they’ve hired contract killers. Easy money. And no one to complain to the police. But after their partner is murdered, they’re on the hunt for payback.

I just read Breakout, the 21st Parker novel. This one involves a prison breakout and subsequent caper. As you might recall, I’m a big fan of these books and they’re an inspiration for the Travelers series. Donald Westlake, writing as Richard Stark, wrote 24 Parker books, the first 16 from 1962-1974, the last 8 from 1997-2008. The latter ones have to deal with technologies that didn’t exist when the series began. But every one of these books that I’ve read (twenty, perhaps?) has been a riveting page turner.

While on the subject of fun reads, Grosse Ponte Pulp: John Rockne Mystery Series books 1-3 by Dan Ames is free today. I picked up a copy. Here’s the link if you want to check it out. (There’s nothing in this for me. Just though you might like to know.)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01I5RZD2E

That’s all for now. Happy reading!

October 20, 2020: A few words about Thicker Than Thieves

October 20, 2020: A few words about Thicker Than Thieves

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Here’s another in the series of emails about the thinking behind a Travelers book. This time, Thicker Than Thieves.

Often, in a Travelers book, the Traveling Man’s wife does the key seduction, while the Traveling Man is more focused on manipulating the other pieces of the puzzle. (Like in The Blackmail Photos.) So in Thicker Than Thieves, I thought it would be fun to put him in the role of primary seducer.

To that, I wanted to add a scam we haven’t seen before in a Travelers book (always looking for something new!), which led to the idea of the Travelers robbing smugglers.

From there, one choice lead to another. The smuggled item to be stolen? Mob diamonds from India. The smugglers to steal from? Iranian Americans. And so it goes until we’re dealing with white nationalists and Middle Eastern jihadis.

It was a little more research than usual, but lots of fun to write. Getting all the pieces to fall together was a complicated challenge. I hope you enjoyed it.

If you haven’t yet read Thicker Than Thieves, you can check it out here:

https://books2read.com/u/megY8g

Happy reading!

October 6, 2020: Prisoner escape

October 6, 2020: Prisoner escape

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The days are getting shorter, the leaves are falling, and we had to bring the plants in off the porch. (Yes, it’s Iowa and winter is coming. Just not for a while we hope.)

The Dark Web Scam: The Travelers Book 9 is off with the copyeditor. When a murder-for-hire scam goes wrong, the Travelers find themselves up against sex traffickers and drug dealers, with a newspaper reporter and the cops thrown into the mix for good measure. Getting even has never been easy, but does it have to be this hard?

Meanwhile, from the “you can’t make this up” file, here’s an article from the Atlantic Magazine about a woman who helped a prisoner escape from prison in a dog crate. Really. Not kidding.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/10/toby-dorrs-great-escape/615487/

Also, I was just turned on to Joseph Kanon. He writes thriller and spy novels set at the end of World War II. I’m reading his first novel, Los Alamos, which involves a murder investigation that takes place in 1945 during the Manhattan Project to build the atomic bomb. Thus far, an excellent read.

Finally, if you’re into free eBook promos, here are two I’m participating in:  The October First-in-Series Crime Promotion and the “Fifty Free” Thrillers promotion. As usual, you get a free eBook for an email list signup. Hope you find something you like! Here’re the links:

https://books.bookfunnel.com/crimeseriespromo/c7izpftc57

https://books.bookfunnel.com/free_action_adventure_thrillers/6jrgchuv4n

That’s all for now. Happy reading!

September 22, 2020: The Casino Switcheroo

September 22, 2020: The Casino Switcheroo

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Here’s another in the series of emails about the thinking behind a Travelers book.

Always looking for a fresh angle to add that extra oomph to a Travelers thriller, that little extra something to make a particular book special. The Casino Switcheroo was no different.

Back in the prequel, The Double Cross, we found out about how the Travelers came to be, and something about the backstory of the young woman who will chose to become, by story’s end, the female half of the team. But we’ve never touched on who the Traveling Man was or what he did before the action that takes place in The Double Cross.

Who trained him? How did his first mentor find him? How does the Traveling Man feel about this mentor? Those are the questions that led to the creation of Alexander Koenig, the master thief who manipulates and cheats everyone, even his own partners.

And what if Koenig had ulterior motives for pulling the Travelers into a high-stakes scam, and the Traveling Man saw this scam as an opportunity to outmaneuver Koenig and steal the score?

That’s how we ended up with the casino heist that isn’t what it appears to be, and the cast of devious players frantically trying to outfox each other so that they can end up with the score and make their escape before the cops close in. It was lots of fun to write, and I hope you enjoyed reading it.

If you haven’t had a chance to dip into The Casino Switcheroo, you can check it out here:

https://books2read.com/u/3nvrGP

Happy reading!

September 11, 2020: As promised

September 11, 2020: As promised

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As promised, here’s the info on the $0.99 eBook deals.

The $0.99 eBook deals on the first 3 books of the Travelers series start today and end on September 15. So if you know someone who’s been thinking about reading The Traveling Man, The Computer Heist, or The Blackmail Photos, but hasn’t gotten started, now’s their chance to give the series a try.

Here are the links:

The Traveling Man: https://books2read.com/u/bzoz6n

The Computer Heist: https://books2read.com/u/bP9Vzz

The Blackmail Photos: https://books2read.com/u/3LDZd5

Happy reading!

September 8, 2020: Dark Web Scam

September 8, 2020: Dark Web Scam

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Just a short note this time.

Made it through the Derecho (land hurricane) with only a few large limbs down in our yard. And our power was only out for 28 hours. Pure luck! We got everything cleared up just in time for all the college students to reappear for the fall. Exciting times in central Iowa.

Making good progress on the Travelers book 9, tentative titled The Dark Web Scam. It involves the shenanigans that take place after a murder-for-hire scam goes wrong. Been having a lot of fun pulling all the pieces together. Hope you enjoy reading it! Planning to release it later this fall. 

In the meantime, there’re $0.99 eBook deals on the first 3 books of the Travelers series next week. So if you know someone who hasn’t read The Traveling Man, The Computer Heist, or The Blackmail Photos, now’s their chance to give the  series a try. I’ll send out a reminder with the book links on the day the deals start.

That’s all for now. Happy reading!

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!