Maria Savva's Blog - Posts Tagged "thriller"

Formatting of the e-book version of Haunted is taking place as I write this. It is with eBookBuilders

I think it will take a couple more days to finish and will then be uploaded onto Amazon KDP.

I am also waiting for a proof copy of the paperback version from Lulu.com before I finally publish that.

While you're waiting, here's the blurb/description:


"Nigel Price has MURDER on his mind.

He can run but he cannot hide. Nigel's past has come back to haunt him. The truth is, his past has never left him... it follows him without remorse, catching him at every turn. There is no escape.

Regret, guilt, nightmares, despair... these fill his every waking hour and disturb his sleepless nights.

Take a trip inside Nigel's mind, in this dark, psychological thriller with a paranormal twist."

I am pleased to announce that my latest novel, Haunted is available on Amazon Kindle!




Haunted is a psychological thriller, darker than my other novels. It is about a man who is on a downwards spiral. He has kept a secret that now threatens to destroy him. There's a paranormal twist to the tale.

I hope you'll enjoy it.

You will notice that the Kindle version has been expertly formatted with an interactive table of contents and links included to my Amazon page and my other books. There are even images included at the end of each chapter. I was very impressed with the quality of the formatting and would highly recommend eBookBuilders which is the company I used to produce this Kindle edition.

The links to Amazon where you can purchase the book are below. If you're an Amazon Prime member, you can borrow the book from the Kindle Lending Library for free!

Amazon.com (includes India): http://www.amazon.com/Haunted-ebook/d...

UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Haunted-ebook...

France: http://www.amazon.fr/Haunted-ebook/dp...

Germany: http://www.amazon.de/Haunted-ebook/dp...

Italy: http://www.amazon.it/Haunted-ebook/dp...

Spain: http://www.amazon.es/Haunted-ebook/dp...

Japan: http://www.amazon.co.jp/Haunted-ebook...

Haunted is the Featured New Release on West of Mars.

West of Mars is the website for Rock & Roll fiction author, Susan Helene Gottfried. Susan helped me with the editing for Haunted.

You can find out all about Susan's editing services here: http://westofmars.com/susans-editing-...

Follow this link to see the Featured New Release post, and find out what song makes me think of my book: http://westofmars.com/featured-new-bo...

I've created a book trailer to help promote my latest novel, Haunted

I found the photos on morguefile.com, and the background music is from http://freemusicforvideos.com/

Here's a link to the trailer on Youtube:


http://youtu.be/64B01EquOyk

I'm currently running a giveaway here on Goodreads. You can enter to win one of 2 paperback copies of my latest title, Haunted. It's a psychological thriller with a touch of the paranormal.

If you'd like a chance to win a signed copy, enter here: http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sho...

Good luck!

My guest today is 
Geoffrey David West, author of the gripping thriller Rock 'n' Roll Suicide.

After reading his book, I was keen to invite him here and introduce him to all of you. His book is a great murder mystery, and I would highly recommend it. As luck would have it, you have the chance to download your copy FREE from Amazon this week (between 14th and 18th January)!

The Kindle edition is readable not only on a Kindle e-reader, but also on your PC, Mac, iPad, or smartphone - you can get free apps from Amazon to read Kindle books if you don't own a Kindle. So, make sure you grab a copy of "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide" this week.

Here's the link you need (this clever link should take you to your local Amazon store): viewBook.at/B009XA5SQ4



Here's my interview with Geoffrey:

When did you start writing Rock 'n' Roll Suicide, and did you have a plan for the story when you started?

About a couple of years ago I think. Just had a hazy idea at first, began writing, put it away for a while, then started again in earnest. Had no plan at all when I started.

Did you do all your own editing?


Yes, and in retrospect it was a mistake. I didn’t want copy editing, as I’d already done that, but I thought I’d done the proofreading, having read it over several times. But on the kindle screen I saw more mistakes, and republished. And now I know there are still more mistakes, so I’m going to republish again. I’m really short of money, but rather than have the nightmare all over again I’m going to ask Julia, Terry Tyler’s sister, for help with my next book, as an amateurish manuscript with typos and missed words is awful and embarrassing.

Hmm... to make you feel better, I have just read a book published by Penguin that had no less that 6 typos... there may have been more that I didn't spot, of course. I do believe that it's not possible to get a completely typo-free book.

There is a lot of description in your novel about places and buildings. Did you visit all the places mentioned in the novel, during the course of writing it?


I already knew the places in Kent, because I write for a magazine called Kent Life, in which I described towns and places, so that was fine. And I know Paris slightly. But as for Hamburg, I’ve never been, did it all from books and on the net, so I hope there aren’t any mistakes.



I know that you also write non-fiction. After writing your first novel, which would you say you prefer, fiction or non-fiction writing?


Fiction, definitely. Nonfiction is a lot easier, and also rewarding, but essentially you’re just presenting facts, not creating anything.

Do you think your experience in non-fiction writing helped or hindered you when you came to writing fiction, and in what ways?


Helped definitely. I’ve written many articles about subjects I knew absolutely nothing at all about when I started, to the extent that if I phoned experts, for instance on a building-related subject, I wasn’t even sure which questions to ask. I realised that you just have to bundle into it, get something down, not wait around until it’s crystallised in your mind. Even if you put down rubbish, you can extract what’s any good from it, arrange it into a different order and so on. Many people talk about writing, but hardly any actually get down to doing it.

When you came up with the idea for your novel, did you plan to write a series or is that something that you decided on later?


Decided on later, when I found Jack Lockwood seemed to be an interesting person.

Jack Lockwood, your protagonist, is a psychologist. Do you have any psychology qualifications?


No, none at all I’m afraid, it’s all from what I’ve read and tried to understand, and I hope I’ve got away with it.

How many books do you plan to write in the Jack Lockwood series?


I’d like to write about six, I think, maybe more, but depends if they sell.

Part of your novel revolves around a conspiracy theory about John Lennon’s murder. Were you/are you a Beatles fan? If so, what do you think is their best album?


I was about 10 when they had their first breakthrough (I remember ‘I want to hold your hand’) and back then I was certainly a fan, and followed their careers until I was around 18 I suppose. I always remember the Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club album being played at a friend’s party when I’d just left school – that one I suppose is my favourite.



Much of your novel includes characters who are in some way linked to the music industry. Do you have a musical background?


No, I’m afraid not. But I have read a lot of pop star autobiographies.

What is your favourite type of music?


Country Music, and it’s sad because you hardly ever hear it in Britain. I love Randy Travis, Alan Jackson, the Dixie Chicks, Lyle Lovett. I also like the old rock bands, for instance Lynyrd Skynyrd. And I do like David Gray, Fleetwood Mac and Richard Thomson and the old folk bands, such as Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span.

Was Maggi O’Kane, or any of the band members in your novel, inspired/based on real musicians?


I suppose I loosely thought of Suzi Quattro, but only because she’s the closest to what I had in mind – Maggi is certainly not based on her. However the place, ‘The Mansh’, I think was based on someone (I think a Fleetwood Mac member) who owned a country mansion, and they called it ‘The Manor’ and used it as a recording studio. The lovely old building and the musicians in it, gave me the idea for the beginning of the book, and the ‘What if’ extension of the beginning turned it into a story.



How much research did you do for the book?


Quite a bit I suppose, but nothing too deep. For instance, I read a lot of pop star biographies, researched Hamburg for the travel details and so on, and also researched the ‘new’ career of being a Behavioural Investigative Adviser, and read books by leading criminal profilers about their careers and cases they worked on.

The book is written in the first person, and often when I read books written in the first person, I wonder whether the character is similar to the author. How much of you is there in Jack Lockwood, or is he based on someone else/purely fictional?
  

A lot of first person writing is, perhaps, wishful thinking – I would love to be a fearless righter of wrongs and intrepid in the face of danger. I would also like to be extremely clever! However the only real way Jack Lockwood I suppose is like me in that I love building, crafts and DIY and do a lot of that kind of work, and know plumbing, carpentry etc.

Apart from the Jack Lockwood series, are you working on any other projects?


Yes, I’m lucky enough to get writing work for Kent Life magazine, also I’m trying to get back into writing articles about building and DIY, plus I’m planning to do a few building/DIY books on kindle. I tried to interest publishers on books on Kent, but with no success at all.

Your book is only available in e-book format at the moment, as far as I know. Do you have plans to make it available as a paperback?



Not at the moment because I cannot afford it. Although I suppose there’s the Print on Demand option, how do you sell books when you’re unknown? People might risk wasting 77p (99c), but would they risk £5 for a book they may not like?

Do you prefer reading e-books or print books?


I suppose print books, it’s nice to feel a book in your hands, but the convenience and cheapness of e-books is their advantage, being able to buy one within seconds.

Do you have any tips for someone who may be considering self-publishing a book?


Yes, get someone to read it to check for mistakes, or, better, pay a professional proofreader, because, for some reason, there are always more mistakes than you realise, and you can’t see your own mistakes. And don’t be put off by the technical side of formatting, because Kindle and Smashwords.com both offer very good free guide books that take your through the entire process. I was also lucky enough to hook up with some really nice people on Twitter who helped me in many ways: Terry Tyler , Maria Savva (of course!), Darcia Helle , Martin Johnson , Mary Metcalfe and a number of other kind folk. Going on Twitter is an excellent way to try to market your book and discover other tremendous authors to read.

Who designed your book cover?


Ian Scaife, of www.isgraphics.co.uk He
did a terrific job.

Yes, it's a great cover!

Who are your favourite authors?

Robert Goddard, Dick Francis, Douglas Kennedy, Tony Parsons, Sarah Waters, Barbara Vine.

There are lots of twists and turns in Rock’n’Roll Suicide, and lots of murders/deaths! As a crime fiction writer have you ever based a character on a particular person you dislike and then killed him or her off in the novel?

Great question, but actually no, I don’t think I hate anyone enough to want them dead. But who knows about the future?

Where can people buy your books?

Rock’n’Roll Suicide: viewBook.at/B009XA5SQ4 And I’ve got a page on Amazon for my others: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Geoffrey-West...

Where at the best places for people to connect with you online?

www.geoffreydavidwest.com and my blog at http://bit.ly/QoYXbv

Thank you, Geoff! I wish you continued success with "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide", and look forward to reading the rest of the series!

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Don't forget to download your free copy of "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide" between 14th & 18th January 2013: viewBook.at/B009XA5SQ4

**Guest post by Jason McIntyre**



More than a decade ago, before I had published any novels and rarely (if ever) shared my work, I had a thought. What if there were god-like beings who, on their whims, could manipulate and contort our lives here on earth?

It was an overwhelming thought for me, these hidden manipulators who were like us but un-like us in many ways.

Of course, there would have to be some rules for these beings. And some greater purpose. I didn’t think anyone would much care for a story where mean individuals simply monkeyed with the lives of regular hard-working folks if there was no point to it. I began to see it as a series of sweeping books.

I started the first one and then...well...life happened.

I didn’t get back to writing it for some time. And, because the concept was so unusual I next wrote a novella-length piece called, simply The Night Walk Men. Last year, that novella was downloaded over 45,000 times at Amazon over five days. When some of those readers eventually read the story, the reviews were mixed. Many loved it, some just couldn’t wrap their heads around it. As with much non-mainstream literature, some readers didn’t get it or care to.

But, the downloads continued and the reviews did too. It certainly wasn’t the most successful book of all time, far from it, but it was a handsome success for a nobody like me.

With its climbing number of readers, I began to bat around my old ideas for the over-arching story. I wrote the first draft of a much longer novel that had all the same elements but offered so much more. Sperro and Fallow were back. These are the two brothers that drive things forward. And there was a pile of new characters now too. The people they were dealing with were so compelling to me that I wrote over 150,000 words in less than ninety days. I incorporated much of my new life into the book, things that had changed for me since the decade previous when I wasn’t yet a parent, when I hadn’t experienced hardships, and the aches of life, but also the joys of it.

I was so excited to share this book.

But then. Well. Life happened.

Finally, after re-drafts and cover design and over 160 beta readers plus the help of a professional editor to sort it all out, I have finally released the full-length novel.

It’s called The Devil's Right Hand and I’m more proud of it than I could have imagined all those years ago when I pondered “What if...”

Official synopsis:

The saga began with The Night Walk Men, the #1 Kindle Suspense novella by Jason McIntyre. Now it continues with The Devil's Right Hand. And a war is brewing.

Meet Benton Garamond. He's lost. He careens through the wet streets of downtown Vancouver on a collision course with a dirty lawyer named Levy Gillis. He wants something from Gillis and he aims to get it.

Meet Donovan Lo, former drug kingpin and not bad with the ladies if you ask him. He's in hiding and has a plan to leave his empire for good. But something -- and someone -- aims to put a bullet through his last big score.

Now meet Sperro. He has a lot to say about his job, about Benton Garamond and about Donovan Lo. Sperro will be your tour guide.

"We are Night Walk Men, imbued with the lives of at least ten men, and we walk among you like a blur, unseen but often sensed or smelled like pollen in the air when you can't see flowers--or the tingle you get when the hairs on your neck stand up.

"If you hear footsteps on the parched earth behind you, or if dry autumn leaves scrape concrete with a breeze, that's most likely one of us, walking just a little ahead or just a little behind. If it's dark and you climb into your car and for once--for no reason at all--wonder why you didn't check the back seat for strangers, one of my brothers is mostly likely back there as you drive off.

"We are everywhere at once and nothing can stop us. We are Death incarnate, walking under long robes of black and chasing down the winds to read from a discourse that may be the last words you'll hear..."

Be prepared to shake The Devil's Right Hand.

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You can keep up with Jason's writing at his website: http://www.thefarthestreaches.com/

Follow him on Twitter: http://twitter.com/JasonCMcIntyre

Get your copy of The Devil's Right Hand on Amazon, here: viewBook.at/B00A6E329Q (this link will take you to your local Amazon store)

And check out the novella, The Night Walk Men, here: viewBook.at/B009LAHAI0

Darcia Helle has a new book out! That's always cause for a celebration. I was lucky enough to read the pre-release copy, and I couldn't put it down!

The new release is called Killing Instinct: A Michael Sykora Novel. It's the third book in her Michael Sykora series. I recommend you add it to your Kindle today.







When I read the book, I was fascinated, and if I'm being honest, a little bit terrified, by the goings-on in the dark underworld created in this book. When Darcia asked me what subject she should write about for a guest post, I suggested she tell us something about her research into this. Part of me was hoping it was entirely fictional, but I suspected that there was some truth in it. I will let Darcia explain, while I go and hide somewhere... (scary stuff)






Guest Post:


When I say the word Tor, what comes to mind? For me, it sparked the image of a comic book hero. I saw a cartoon character with big muscles and an intense expression. Maybe he’s wearing animal skin and holding a club, like a caveman. I could also place him in the future, holding a laser gun and wearing a fancy suit of thin armor with hidden weapons. Either way, the real Tor was not at all what I expected.

I stumbled upon the word several years ago while reading an article in The Atlantic. Or was it Rolling Stone? Whichever. That’s not the important detail here.

Tor is an open network you can download for your computer, which you then use as your web browser. It’s free. It’s confidential. It’s hidden. And it’s completely anonymous. In fact, the tag line Tor uses on their site is “Anonymity Online”.

These are some of the benefits listed on Tor’s website:

Tor's hidden services let users publish web sites and other services without needing to reveal the location of the site.
Individuals also use Tor for socially sensitive communication: chat rooms and web forums for rape and abuse survivors, or people with illnesses.
Nobody would be able to determine who was offering the site, and nobody who offered the site would know who was posting to it.

What Tor doesn’t advertise is the sordid side of this anonymity. Rape abuse survivors might use Tor to communicate, but so do rapists. So do drug dealers. And killers. You get the idea, right? Keeping websites off the grid means no one knows who or where these people are. It means sociopaths can connect and trade stories online, and the cops have no way to find them.

I’d had a vague sense of an Internet underground, but reading about Tor really flipped on the switch for me. My mind being a dark, twisted place means that switch didn’t shine light, it prompted ideas. That’s when the storyline for Killing Instinct was born.

Further exploration taught me about bitcoins. This isn’t change we carry around in our pockets; nor are they coins we use in a gambling casino. Bitcoins are digital currency. When used correctly, the transactions are completely untraceable. Anonymous. Want to buy designer drugs or hire a hit man? Log onto the Internet with Tor and pay with bitcoins. No one will know who you are.

This all led me to a place called Silk Road Marketplace, a website on Tor that sells everything you won’t find on Amazon. Silk Road was known for their designer drugs; a kind of candy store for drug addicts. Dig deeper and you’d find college acceptance papers forged so well they’ll fool the college. You’d also find prostitutes and hired killers.

All this gave me the ideal setting for some seriously disturbed characters.
Just a few weeks ago, I read that Silk Road Marketplace was shut down. No, the cops didn’t manage that. The site’s administrators shut the site down because they were being blackmailed by some unknown person looking for easy money. Silk Road’s administrators have offered a $5,000 reward to anyone with information on their extortionist’s identity. Kind of funny, in a way. It’s like the Old West has moved over to the Internet.

Given what I’ve learned, I doubt Silk Road has completely shut down. They’ve just changed their name and moved to a different dark corner of the Internet. I guess, in that way, they’re a bit like the drug dealers hanging out on city corners.

While Killing Instinct is fiction, the story could easily be playing out somewhere at this very moment. And that, for me, is the scariest part of it all.

********************************************************************************************

You can purchase Killing Instinct at all good retailers. Here are the main Amazon links:

Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Killing-Instinc...

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Killing-Insti...

No Good Deed by Tim Baker

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


When I first started reading this book I didn't know that it was the sequel to Living the Dream, but when I realised that it was I was very pleased. I enjoyed the first book in the series and all the characters were so great that it was nice to revisit them in 'No Good Deed'.

In this story, the hapless Kurt seems to have finally made something of himself. He even has a love interest. However, his luck soon runs out when he inadvertently gets involved in a dangerous chain of events.

We meet some new characters in this book who are just as charismatic as the old favourites from 'Living The Dream'. Al is homeless but he has a plan to get back on his feet in style. Unfortunately, there are a couple of gangsters who have other ideas.

It's a fun, fast-paced read, with lots of edge-of-your-seat action scenes. The only slight criticism I have is that the dream scenes didn't really add much to the novel. In 'Living The Dream' they were great because they were part and parcel of the story. In this book, however, I found that I just wanted the dreams scenes to end so I could get back to the action. I'm still giving it 5 stars, though, because it's a brilliant story and deserves to be read.



View all my reviews

It's already June. Oh well, they say time flies when you're having fun, so I must have been having a lot of fun :)

I thought I would take the opportunity for a mid-year look back at some of my favourite reads of 2015.

In no particular order, here are a few I'd recommend if you're currently searching for your next read.



Eli's Coming by Darcia Helle

Excerpt from my review: "...a supernatural thriller with elements of fantasy and suspense. [...] When we meet Eli he is at a kind of crossroads in his life because he has found love but there is a dark secret that he is keeping and something that could threaten his new love and also his own life. The secret is slowly and steadily revealed as the story unfolds and his past comes back to find him.

I really enjoyed Eli's Coming. The dark fantasy element is fascinating. I'm pleased that this is the first in the series and am looking forward to the next book!"

Amazon links:

US: http://www.amazon.com/Elis-Coming-Cha...
UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Elis-Coming-C...




Living the Dream by Tim Baker

Excerpt from my review: "This book had me hooked from the start and kept me interested throughout. It's a fun and fast-paced read with lots of surprising twists and turns. [...] The book revolves around a series of strange recurring dreams that many of the characters have been having. [...] It's a complex tale involving many different characters and the author did a fantastic job with it. This would make a great movie!"

Amazon links:

US: http://www.amazon.com/Living-Dream-Ti...
UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Living-Dream-...







Easy Target by Jenny Hilborne

Excerpt from my review: "This is book two in a series, but I had not read book one and still enjoyed it immensely. I like the fast-paced style of the author's writing. [...] In this novel, Lucinda Fitchett or "Fitch" as she is known, has no recollection of events one evening after waking up in her own flat not sure how she got there after a night out. She has a very troubled past and is wary when contacted by someone who says he knows what happened to her. Fitch is determined to find out the truth [...] an action packed crime thriller that will keep you guessing until the end."

Amazon links:

UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Easy-Target-I...
US: http://www.amazon.com/Easy-Target-Ins...





Weird: A Henry Ian Darling Oddity Missive One

Excerpt from my review: "First in a series, in this 'weird' story, we're introduced to Henry Darling and follow him on his first adventure. [...] It kept me hooked from the start and it's wonderfully imaginative. Henry has been through an experience that changed him and now he collects oddities. His wife and his unlikely friend Brett are his companions and helpers. This is a truly unique story from a talented writer. [...] If you haven't read any of this author's work, 'Weird' would be a great place to start."

Amazon links:

US: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00R...
UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0...





The Cestus Concern by Mat Nastos

Excerpt from my review: "This is a fantastic book. It kept me hooked from the start. I loved the humourous interaction between Mal and his best friend Zuz.

Mal wakes up to find he's a cyborg and has no memory of the past 11 months of his life. In his quest to find out the truth he has to battle many government agents and man-made adversaries. It's a rollercoaster ride from page 1 with scene after scene of action packed adventure."

Amazon links:

UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Cestus-Co...
US: http://www.amazon.com/The-Cestus-Conc...





Dreams of a Calico Mouse: The Poems of Dorien Grey

Excerpt from my review: "Dorien Grey's "Dreams of a Calico Mouse" is the perfect example of the type of modern poetry that I enjoy. It's almost storytelling but in verse, and it contains heartfelt messages. The themes in this collection include: love, old age, regret, and dreams. A couple of the poems made me chuckle, and then there were a couple of them that nearly made me cry. All of them kept me interested and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole book. This is an accomplished collection of all types of poetry including some haiku."

Amazon links:

UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0...
US: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00J...




Odin's Eye

Excerpt from my review: "Maria Haskins' writing definitely fits into the literary fiction genre. These are stories that are to be savoured. There is a depth to the tales that can only be fully appreciated by taking time to really read and digest every sentence, every nuance. Each sentence is skillfully crafted. [...] All the stories are science fiction and are set in the near or distant future. They are set on different planets, different worlds. The characters are so well depicted and seem like real people telling their tale. We see things through their eyes, we feel their fear and sense their concerns. [...] The stand out story for me was 'Lost and Found', a tale about an astronaut, who is the only survivor after a crash, waiting to be rescued. That one is just perfect, in my opinion. It would make a great movie or short film."

Amazon links:

US: http://www.amazon.com/Odins-Eye-Maria...
UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Odins-Eye-Mar...