Tag: extract

Blog Tour: Rocks Beat Paper by Mike Knowles @Mike_Knowles @ecwpress

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Goodreads|Amazon
Release date: May 9, 2017

Blurb: 

“Merciless but honest about being monstrous, Wilson is worthy to stand next to Loren Estleman’s Peter Macklin and Donald Westlake’s Parker.” — Publishers Weekly


A phone call brought Wilson and nine other men to a job in New York. At first, he couldn’t see a way to make the heist work, but the score — millions of dollars in diamonds — kept him looking. Wilson came up with a plan he knew would work . . . until the inside man got killed and took the job with him.


With no way inside, the crew walks away without the diamonds. Alone, Wilson is free to execute the job his way. Wilson sets a con in motion that should run as predictably as a trail of dominoes — except the con doesn’t rely on inanimate tiles, it relies on people.


Wilson pushes all of the pieces across the board only to find out that there are other players making their own moves against him. Everyone is playing to win and no one is willing to walk away because the job is about more than money, the job is about diamonds. And in this game, rocks beat paper every time.

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Rocks Beat Paper! I have an exclusive excerpt to share with you, make sure you check out Clues and Reviews who shared the previous section and also Do Some Damage who will have the next excerpt on May 11. 


Excerpt:  

From Chapter 1

I circled the table and took a seat that allowed me to keep my back to the wall.

“You’re late,” Miles said. 

I looked over the bowls of chips that surrounded a warm shrimp ring. I had never been to a meeting with a shrimp ring before. “A lot of people here,” I said.

. . .[Miles] smirked and then his face lost all trace of expression. “You have a problem with the numbers?”

I nodded. “Every man you add to a job adds more than just a pair of hands. It adds baggage. All the personalities and ideas create variables, layers of unexpected consequences that will need to be dealt with. Every job has something, and you deal with them as they come. Most times you can because an isolated problem isn’t usually enough to sink a job. But every number you add expands the potential fuckups and makes them exponentially harder to solve because you have to work out a solution that makes the whole group happy. I see eight men walk through a door and I get a headache just thinking about the homework.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

The pool player wasn’t playing pool anymore. He was standing beside the table with the cue in two hands. Seeing the man bent over the table didn’t give me a real impression of his size. I had pegged him as big. Standing at full height suddenly made the word feel weak — the man was huge. His white T-shirt hugged his barrel-shaped torso; the logo on the old shirt had faded into an indecipherable smear that matched the grey streaks running through his tangled hair. His heavy hands wrung the cue, and the motion revealed prison ink on the inside of his forearms. The tattoo was faded and poorly done, likely from his first fall a long way back. Based on his eagerness to fight in order to cement his position as the alpha in the room, I guessed he did more than one stretch.

I nodded my head towards Miles while keeping my eyes on the man holding the cue. “I’m talking to him,” I said.

“Your talking is fucking up my game.”

. . .Miles opened his mouth to say something and then gave up on it. He turned his head towards me. “You said you watched eight men walk through the door. I just caught that. You weren’t late, you were just on the fence.”

“Not so much on the fence now that I see the workload,” I said.

“Too much homework?”

I nodded. “A nine-man job is worse than calculus.”

 

Find the previous excerpt on Clues & Reviews.

Find the next excerpt on Do Some Damage on May 10.

 

Excerpt adapted from Rocks Beat Paper by Mike Knowles. © 2017 by Mike Knowles. All rights reserved. Published by ECW Press Ltd. http://www.ecwpress.com

About the Author: 


Mike Knowles lives in Hamilton with his wife, children, and dog. His Wilson mystery In Plain Sight was shortlisted for the Arthur Ellis Award for best crime novel.

 

Extract: Perfect Summer by Karen King @karen_king

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Goodreads|Amazon
Release date: May 10, 2017

Publisher: Accent Press

Genre: YA

Blurb: 

Set in a society obsessed with perfection, 15 year old Morgan is best friends with the seemingly perfect Summer. But when Morgan’s brother, Josh, who has Down’s syndrome, is kidnapped, they uncover a sinister plot and find themselves in terrible danger.

Can they find Josh before it’s too late? And is Summer’s life as perfect as it seems?

 

What people are saying about Perfect Summer

‘This book was amazing, as it was easy to relate to the characters, and it put a perfect twist on society’s obsession with perfection.’ Shehayamsani – Litpick reviewer.

 

 

‘King does an amazing job of writing about the discrimination children with disabilities face’ http://strollinginstoryland.blogspot.co.uk/

I was really taken away by this book – it is full of excitement, danger, shocks, gripping scenes and a thick plot. It is a truly brilliant story, with some fun – but SO realistic – characters. It makes the reader think – could the future turn out to be something like this?? Bookworm1, Amazon UK review

‘The story line was fascinating and kept my attention. Could also be a good book club discussion book.’ Donna – More Than A Review

I’m delighted to welcome you to my stop on the blog tour for Perfect Summer. 


Extract: 

Summer and I hurried upstairs while Josh was busy watching TV. Summer plonked herself down on my bed while I got my things ready.

“Want some music?” I asked, pressing the silver button on the comm-panel. The latest hit from Krescendo, our favourite band, blasted out and a hologram of them playing beamed onto the wall.

Then I pressed the green button, my wardrobe doors glided open, and a rail of clothes slid out. I glanced over at Summer, feeling awkward as always, that my room was so small and my wardrobe so sparse. Summer’s wardrobe was a huge walk-in affair full of designer clothes. Luckily, she was sprawled out watching Krescendo so I quickly grabbed the clothes I needed for the weekend and shoved them in my rucksack. Thank goodness I’d found an immaculate emerald green Maliko dress at the recycle store the other week. That would be perfect for Roxy’s. I knew Summer would let me borrow her clothes but felt better if I wore something of my own.

I took out the dress and zipped it into a freshpack to keep it crease-free. I glanced at the image screen on my bedroom wall and grimaced. My make-up needed renewing and some strands of my chestnut hair were escaping from the ponytail I’d swept it into. I swiftly fixed it and applied more make-up. I didn’t want to turn up at Summer’s looking a mess, Tamara and Leo expected everyone to always look their best.  

“Ready.” I pressed the buttons on the CP again to close my wardrobe doors, and switched off the music.

“Have a nice weekend,” Mum said as we popped in to say goodbye. She looked so pale, with dark circles under her eyes. I could tell the visit from the Ministry had upset her and hesitated for a moment, wondering if I should stay. But Dad was due home soon and I was so looking forward to the weekend. I loved going to Summer’s house and being spoilt for a bit. It was like living in another world. She was so lucky.

“Thanks, we will.” I leaned over and tousled Josh’s chestnut curls. “Bye, Josh.”

“Play, Maw,” he said, scrambling up.

“Maw going out now. I’ll play with you when I come back.” He puckered his face as if he was going to cry, but Mum took his hand. “Come on, Josh, let’s pick some tomatoes for tea.”  

Josh’s face lit up. He loved helping Mum in the garden. Everyone had a vegetable patch, compost and water butt by order of the Ministry as part of the Planet Protection Programme. I hated gardening but Josh loved helping Mum water the plants with the rainwater collected in the butt, and picking the vegetables. Summer’s parents had a gardener, of course.

Mum led Josh out into the garden while we went out the front door before Josh could realise I was leaving. I had no idea how much I was going to regret not playing with Josh one more time. Or not kissing him goodbye.

 About the Author: 


Karen King is the author of over 120 children’s books and has had two YA’s published, Perfect Summer and Sapphire Blue. Perfect Summer was runner up in the Red Telephone Books YA novel competition in 2011 and has just been republished by Accent Press.

Karen is also the author of two romance novels, and has been contracted for three chick lit novels by Accent Press. The first, I do?… or do I? was published in 2016 and the second, The Cornish Hotel by the Sea, is due out in the Summer. In addition, Karen has written several short stories for women’s magazine and worked for many years on children’s magazines such as Thomas the Tank Engine and Winnie the Pooh as well as the iconic Jackie magazine.

When she isn’t writing, Karen likes travelling, watching the ‘soaps’ and reading. Give her a good book and a box of chocolates and she thinks she’s in Heaven.

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Extract: One Endless Summer by Laurie Ellinghan @LaurieEllingham

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Goodreads|Amazon UK|Amazon US
Release date: April 20, 2017

Publisher: HQ Digital 

Genre: Women’s Fiction 

Blurb: 
Three best friends.
Three continents.

Three months to live.


How long can you keep a secret?




Three best friends are embarking on an all-expenses paid trip of their dreams. The only catch? Every moment will be documented on film.



Lizzie’s battle with cancer is coming to an end, and now she’s ready to embrace adventure for the very first time. There are only three months, but it is Lizzie’s time to finally start living!



Jaddi is known for her stunning looks, flirtatious attitude and many conquests. But Jaddi has a secret and on this last trip together she needs to decide whether her best friends will ever know the real her.



Samantha has always been the ‘grown up’ of the group, the one with a five year plan. What Lizzie and Jaddi don’t know is that Sam is trapped, and her perfect life isn’t quite what it seems…



As they trek across the globe Lizzie, Jaddi and Samantha must come to terms with loss, love and trusting one another. But will it all be too late… 

One Endless Summer sounds like such a great read and though I didn’t have the time to read it yet, it’s coming up in my TBR as soon as possible. I have a deleted scene to share today, I love that, so many times when I finish a book I long for a bit more time with the characters. 

Extract: 

Deleted chapter from One Endless Summer

One Endless Summer follows Lizzie, Jaddi, and Samantha as they backpack around the world. And with them for every step of the way is Ben, the cameraman, sent to capture the final months of Lizzie’s life.

In the first draft of One Endless Summer, Ben had his own chapters, showing a softer side to the grumpy cameraman and a different perspective on the journey. By draft two it was clear that Ben’s voice wasn’t needed. He is still an integral part of the story, but not one the reader needed to hear. It was real Kill Your Darlings moment for me and I was sad to cut his scenes. Here is a deleted scene from Ben as he ponders his role on the trip:

 

Ben

Why did women always go to the toilet in groups? And why did they always take so long? A wry smirk touched Ben’s face as he recalled his father’s theory on the matter. The minute his mother and sister would leave in search of the ladies room, his dad would lean across the restaurant table and whisper to Ben and his brother: ‘There they go again, off to take part in the women’s world toilet origami competition. What do you think they’ll be making today? The Eiffel tower?’

​His dad had a lot of theories. Some funny, some outright bonkers, and others which made a lot of sense too, like when he’d said to Ben growing up ‘Always trust your gut, it will keep you safe. The minute you start ignoring your gut, you lose your way in life. I’ve seen it happen.’

​Ben’s gut had told him not to accept this job, but he couldn’t figure out why. He’d sworn after the Lola Frost documentary he would stop working with people, especially famous ones. Had that been the reason? Still, he hadn’t meant to sound so rude when he’d spoken to Lizzie on the plane.​

​Animals made so much more sense. Animals knew nothing of the fruitless euphoric highs of fading celebrities when they got a bump in their popularity ratings, or a mention by someone seemingly more famous than then. Always followed by the lows and the snide jealousy as someone else’s face appeared on the magazine covers. He had yet to meet a sadder and more pointless existence.

​He should be lying in a dusty plain in Botswana, capturing the birth of lion cubs. Not babysitting three girls.

​The problem he had, the reason he kept being passed over for the wildlife footage, what he hated to admit, was that he had a knack for the babysitting jobs. He didn’t get sucked into the life of the entourage like so many of his colleagues. Only filming the best bits, the part of the story the celebrities wanted the world to see. That life didn’t interest him.

​It’s why some of the producers called him Sherlock. It wasn’t just the connection to his surname. He had the uncanny ability to sense when something was about to happen, a feeling in the pit of his stomach, a sixth sense, a radar in his brain beeping at him to reach for his camera and capture a moment that would otherwise have been missed. Sometimes it was just a look, like the expression on Jaddi’s face when she’d spoken to Lizzie’s brother. A flash of raw emotion before the wall went up. Other times it was something more juicy, a sudden kiss, a lovers’ quarrel, he’d seen it all.

​Whatever it was, the warning noise on his radar beeped into overdrive as he stared at the toilet door the girls had disappeared through. How long did they need in there? Ben unzipped his holdall and hoisted his camera onto his shoulder.

​Using his foot, he eased open the door and stepped into the restroom.

​Well that scene just makes me want to read the book even more now! Thanks to Laurie for sharing that fabulous bonus material today. 

About the Author: 


Laurie lives in a small village on the Suffolk borders, with her husband, two children, and their cockerpoo, Rodney. When she is not disappearing into the fictional world of her characters, preferably with a large coffee and a Twix (or two) to hand, she is running through the countryside, burning off the chocolate intake and plotting her next chapter.

 

To find out more visit http://www.laurie-ellingham.com, or find her on Twitter @LaurieEllingham and Facebook.