Thriller Thursday For April 28

The Thriller Thursday feature is....

SET THE NIGHT ON FIRE by Libby Fischer Hellmann

SET THE NIGHT ON FIRE by Libby Fischer Hellmann

SET THE NIGHT ON FIRE

Synopsis:

Someone is trying to kill Lila Hilliard. During the Christmas holidays she returns from running errands to find her family home in flames, her father and brother trapped inside. Later, she is attacked by a mysterious man on a motorcycle. . . and the threats don't end there.

As Lila desperately tries to piece together who is after her and why, she uncovers information about her father's past in Chicago during the volatile days of the late 1960s . . . information he never shared with her, but now threatens to destroy her.

Part thriller, part historical novel, and part love story, Hellmann's Set the Night on Fire paints an unforgettable portrait of Chicago during a turbulent time: the riots at the Democratic Convention . . . the struggle for power between the Black Panthers and SDS . . . and a group of young idealists who tried to change the world.

ISBN: 978-0984067664 (hardcover)

978-0984067657 (trade paperback)

Allium Press

December, 2010

Now on sale. Purchase the book from Amazon Kindle for only 99c now through May!

Review Snippets:

“A tremendous thriller, sweeping but intimate, elegiac but urgent, subtle but intense... this story really does set the night on fire."

—Lee Child

"Superior... Passion, pain, and protests emerge in vivid detail."

—Chicago Tribune

A top-rate standalone thriller that taps into the antiwar protests of the 1960s and 70s... A jazzy fusion of past and present, Hellman's insightful, politically charged whodunit explores a fascinating period in American history."

—Publishers Weekly

"Top Pick! A marvelous novel."

—Romantic Times Book Reviews

"Hellmann... clearly has gone to school on—or experienced firsthand—radical Chicago politics during the Vietnam era... the tension will keep you turning the pages."

—Jeff Johnson, Chicago Sun-Times

"Haunting... Rarely have history, mystery, and political philosophy blended so beautifully... could easily end up on the required reading list in college-level American History classes."

—Betty Webb, Mystery Scene

"Hellmann captures the uncertainty and passion of the time... this is a wonderfully evocative read, for those who were ten, twenty, thirty or forty in 1968. Settle in for a great ride."

—Robin Agnew, Aunt Agatha's Bookstore

Available in Hardback, Paperback and Kindle at Amazon.com
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Libby Fischer Hellmann

SET THE NIGHT ON FIRE by Libby Fischer Hellmann (A Sample)

from Part Two

"Casey, you're a Celtic knot." Alix giggled as she passed Rain the joint. The smoke Casey had been holding in exploded out of his lungs. He coughed long and hard, drowning out the chorus of "People are Strange" by the Doors.

"Are you all right?" Rain squinted through her granny glasses.

Casey nodded, his throat so raspy he couldn't speak.

Rain crossed her legs Indian-style and took a hit off the J. She held it in, exhaled quietly, then passed it to Dar.

"What do you mean, Alix?" Casey finally croaked.

Alix tucked a lock of blond hair behind her ear. The six of them were on the living room floor of the apartment, a shabby space with yellowed shades, torn linoleum, and cracks in the walls. "You're always making connections," she said. "With people, places, events. You twist things all together. Like a Celtic knot."

"Aw, man, you're just stoned." Payton wiggled his fingers and sang along with the music.

"Cool it, Payton." Dar raised a warning hand.

"It's all right." Alix gently stayed his hand and took the J from his fingers. She passed it to Payton. "Actually, a Celtic knot is a symbol for the complexity of the universe. No matter how our lives play out, we're all intertwined. Twisting and weaving and overlapping. No beginning. No end. Here, I'll draw it."

"Alpha and omega," Teddy said. He lay spread-eagled on the floor.

"Right." Alix got up slowly.

"You all right?" Dar and Casey said it together.

She giggled again and grabbed the back of the couch. "Trippy. I guess I'm a little high."

Dar's eyes, always dark and brooding, were edged with concern. He looked liked he wanted to rescue her, Casey thought. He usually did.

"Just sit," Casey said before Dar had the chance. "Don't draw anything."

But Alix shook her head and went to a large leather satchel in the corner. She fished out a pad and ink pen and started sketching. A minute later she brought it back and handed it to Payton. "See? It folds back on itself. Nothing lost. Very economical."

Payton stared without comment, took another hit, and passed the J to Teddy.

Casey peered at the sketch over Payton's shoulder. He saw a circle with lots of overlapping lines and squiggles. "Far out," he said appreciatively.

"That's you. Symbolically speaking." Alix plopped back down beside Dar.

"Hey. This is good shit." Teddy exhaled and passed the joint back to Casey. "Where'd you get it, Payton?"

Payton scratched his forehead underneath his rolled up red bandana. "Uh... some guy."

"Casey scored it," Rain said. "Not Payton."

Payton shot her a dark look.

"Well, he did. We were in Old Town, looking for copies of The Seed—you know, the special one with the psychedelic 'Yippie' on the cover—and we met this guy. Casey started rapping with him, and a few minutes later, we walked out with an oz."

Alix splayed her hands. "Connections. See what I mean?"

Dar took Alix's outstretched hand. She snuggled closer to him.

Casey tried not to notice. "Where's the hemostat?"

Teddy sat up, found it, and handed it to Casey. Casey clipped it to the roach, took one last hit and passed it back to Teddy, who took another toke, then dumped the hemostat and roach into a large ashtray.

Payton sighed. "So what's the program, group?"

"I Love Lucy," Teddy said.

"Star Trek." Casey blew out the last of the smoke.

"The Flying Nun," Alix said.

"Fuck it." Payton shook his head. "And you call yourselves activists?"

"We boldly went where no man has gone before," Teddy said in a stagey, TV voice.

"And met some very spacy creatures," Casey added with a laugh.

"We've done our part," Alix said.

"Wrong. 'There can be no peace until every soldier is out of Vietnam and the imperialistic system is destroyed.'" Payton scowled. "Quick. Who said that?"

Casey rolled his eyes. "Give it a rest, Payton."

Payton persisted. "Who?"

"Rennie Davis," Dar cut in.

"Give the man a medal," Payton said.

Alix and Dar exchanged looks. "Alix has a point," Dar said. "We brought thousands of people to Chicago. Discredited the government... and the party that got us into this mess."

"So we brought the war home for a few days." Payton shrugged. "The war didn't take a few days off. And the pigs are still in control."

"You can't run the world according to Mao's little red book, Payton," Rain sniffed. When Payton arched his eyebrows, she added, "I saw you leafing through it the other day. That's dangerous."

"Shit, Rain." Payton ran a hand through his long blond hair. "We invade a country, dump bombs on the people, and risk the lives of millions. All in the name of 'Peace with honor.' Now that's dangerous."

"Hey man, Payton's right," Teddy said, coming to his defense. "Look what happened last week. Troops in the street. Fucking bayonets and tear gas. Mass arrests. This isn't America. It's Nazi Germany." He pulled out a cigarette from a crumpled pack, struck a match to it, and took a long drag.

Alix frowned. "I thought we all agreed it was time for a break. And you shouldn't put that poison into your lungs."

Teddy took another deep drag. For spite, Casey figured.

He went to the window, only half-listening to the bickering. Below was the intersection of Sedgwick and Willow, a few blocks north and west of the heart of Old Town. The neighborhood was in transition from an artists' community to a home for hippies, and some of the buildings were abandoned factories that had been divided up into apartments. Theirs wasn't much more than a few rooms with bare bulbs and the occasional cockroach, but the rent was reasonable, and at night you could imagine you were on the Left Bank of Paris or Greenwich Village.

Casey had never thought of himself as a connector. Then again, over the past week they'd formed their own personal collective, Payton called it—and it had been Casey's doing. His and Alix's.

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Thriller Thursday For April 21

Today for Thriller Thursday we spotlight

Drawing a Blank: Portrait of a Smokin' Serial Killer

by

R.K. Finch

Drawing a Blank: Portrait of a Smokin' Serial Killer by R.K. Finch

She is a successful Internet executive. She has just inherited a boatload of money. She's a chain-smoking, self-diagnosed sociopath who lives in a bizarre moral framework of her own creation. She's a deadly serial killer who has a taste for executives, politicians and anyone else she thinks is "unjust". She's a beautiful chameleon - and she believes she is going to get away with it all. Beginning just after the death of her ex-lover, this unrepentant female serial killer explains how she copes with her personality disorder, what her relationship is to her industry and colleagues, when and how she began killing, her relationship with her one friend, and her views on the Internet, homelessness, social work, art and politics. Both empathetic and abhorrent, this first-person memoir reveals the best and worst of what to her appears to be an increasingly thoughtless, shallow world. Between what she claims at the beginning of the book to be her final murder and her actual final murder nearly two years later, she chronicles in detail her bloodlust, her short-lived psychotic breaks, her persistent desire to disappear, her enthusiasm for the hunt and murder ritual, her search for like-minded individuals and her ever-growing log of victims.

Sneak Peek

I like how I look in wigs; I like how I look smoking cigarettes in them. I like the way a wig, some colour contacts and a little makeup can transform me into an entirely different person. I often go to clubs this way. I also like to wear gloves. Long gloves that go all the way up my arm. I love armbands and belly-bracelets and silver garters. I love anything that lightly binds me. Wigs have this similar effect.

One night about a year after the Silacorp debacle I was at a club in Ottawa called the Bullpen. It was supposed to be an "older" crowd, ranging from about 22-35. I was wearing a blonde wig. Silver makeup. Black vinyl strapless mini-dress. Looked like a kid from the NYC glam party-scene in the eighties. I was slightly buzzing on vodka and feeling the effects still from a line of coke some chick had offered me in the bathroom a half hour earlier. Dancing on the floor with a group of people, I suddenly felt some breath on my neck.

"You're magnificent," a deep voice purred in my ear. I turned around and saw who it was. It was time.

Available in Paperback, Hardcover, and Kindle at Amazon.com

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Chapters Indigo.ca

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Surviving the Fall by William Potter

"Surviving the Fall” is a homerun with emotional ups and downs that had me on the edge of seat. It was scary, lustful, and tender, as the plot pushed the ethical envelop of underage sexuality.

Okay, so what is the story about? It is the story of two lonely and needy people that find each other, find true love and compassion, in a perverse and evil world.

James Goodal, love the pun by the way, is a software programmer. His wife has left him, left him the house and a closet full of her cloths that she will never claim. James is lonely. He has a big heart and a lot of love to give. When James was a child he collected displaced animals and cared for them, nursed them back to health.

It was no surprise that when James saw Ashley Metcalf tossed from a moving car into the middle of the street that he had to help her.

Ashley is a complicated, oversexed fifteen-year old. Ashley has been a prostitute since her mother tricked her out when turned ten. So, it is no wonder that she is afraid to trust James and except his help. However, she gets into even more trouble that sends her to live in James’ guest house to the shock and disgust of James’ sister.

James and Ashley’s relationship is a rocky one. James is very frank with Ashley that she is underage; he only wants to help her get back on her feet. However, James sees Ashley as a sexual creature that has had more experience that he ever will. Meanwhile, Ashley can not except that he doesn’t want her. She sees how he looks at her. She wants to give him what she has; what every man she has ever known wants from her. For the first time in her life she wants to have sex with someone. The tension created between these two well written characters is the stuff of great literature. by Aaron M. Wilson Soullessmachine.com

* * *

Surviving the Fall is a heart-warming tale of a wayward teenage prostitute and a gentleman with a rescuer complex. It's a great, intertwined plot where all the characters come together, in the same spirit of the Academy Award winning movie, Crash. Potter showcases his writing talent with skillful interspersing of critical backstory in such a way as to avoid slowing the plot. I urge you to take note of the writer's talent for character development and I'm sure you'll be impressed. In fact, I shouldn't think it'd be long before a major publishing house snaps Mr. Potter up because he belongs on the bookshelves with the likes of Jeffery Deaver and Peter Abrahams. Highly recommended by reviewer: Jan Evan Whitford, Allbooks Reviews.

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Now available at Amazon/Kindle

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Reunion by Jeff Bennington

David Ray killed eight students and then turned the gun on himself. He thought the shooting and suicide would fix his world. It didn't. The massacre threw Tanner Khan and the other survivors into chaos.

Twenty years later, Tanner and his fellow classmates reluctantly agree to hold a reunion to lay the past to rest. Although they suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, they come back to their hometown and reunite in the defunct school building. Old flames are rekindled, fears are ignited, and their lives are about to explode in a whirlwind of memories, haunted by the spirit of David Ray.

Once inside the old school, they discover that a dark entity has joined them. It has come to collect a debt, long overdue, and someone has to pay. Will Tanner and his classmates overcome their fears and put the pieces of their lives back together, or will they be consumed by their worst nightmare?

****This multi-genre thriller has, at times, elements of the supernatural, horror, romance, and certainly suspense, without disregard for the trauma and long term Post Traumatic Stress that many survivors will deal with the rest of their lives.

REUNION READER REVIEWS:

"Jeff Bennington cuts right to the heart of darkness and evil in REUNION. Don't plan on getting any sleep once you start reading." - Joe Moore, international bestselling co-author of THE 731 LEGACY and THE GRAIL CONSPIRACY.

"Reunion tackles a controversial subject with dramatic insight and grace." - Bestselling author & Bram Stoker nominee, Scott Nicholson, author of The Red Church

"When I started reading Reunion I was shocked by the quality of writing. Natural dialogue, good flow, interesting story, and efficient prose—it's all in there! This book draws you in quickly and doesn't let go." - Neal Hock, Bookhound's Den

"The malevolent entity in REUNION typifies the dark side of the paranormal. Jeff Bennington's new thriller is haunting my dreams." - Michael Clark, Executive Producer of Ghost Guys and Ghost Guys LIVE.

Book Review: Reunion by Jeff Bennington

Jeff Bennington, author of The Rumblin’, has been praised by many for his works. His ability to accurately depict the “dark” side of human emotions especially shines in his new book, Reunion.

David Ray, murderer of classmates and destroyer of dreams, shot himself and died on graduation day. Twenty years later, several survivors are determined to go back to the place where their fears originated: Crescent Falls High School. Most of them had left Crescent Falls without a backwards glance after the massacre, but suddenly they felt a need to overcome the past. Unfortunately, mysterious things have been happening at the place where their reunion is to be held. The survivors unknowingly walk straight into the death trap… to possibly never come back out.

A supernatural horror that would grab your interest (and also your heart) and never let go, the Reunion will cause you to cry, smile, hope, and cower under your blanket, though not necessarily in that order. To conclude, all I can say is this: this book is a masterpiece." - 1412, Goodreads Reviewer

Available in Print and Kindle at Amazon.com

NOOK ebook at Barnes&Noble.com

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Thriller Thursday For March 24

Our Thriller Thursday post is

Piety and Murder

by

Thomas Drinkard