Twist of Fate

Jack West #1

by Deanna King

Introducing Jack West a tenacious Houston Homicide Detective, a man who believes even the dregs of society deserve justice.
After solving an exhausting murder case involving teenagers, Jack and his partner, Dawson Luck are assigned a cold case dating back 25 years. One case: an unsolved murder of a woman, found dead behind a seedy motel; the other about a missing prostitute.
Digging into the cases, a fresh murder case is called in. A wealthy couple is found dead in an affluent residential area. It appears to be a murder- suicide and this new case takes precedence. Wrapping up the new case in record time, they get back to their cold cases.
As Jack digs in to his 25-year-old case, he hears a bizarre tale from a dying ex-prostitute. What he hears has him believing his case and his partner’s case might be connected.
Joining forces, they unravel truths about cops on the take, executions, prostitution and conspiracy to cover up a murder involving a high-ranking official.

319 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 23, 2019

About the author

I was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, however, did not grow up in the corn husker state. My father was in the Air Force, and that was how he ended up from Texas to Nebraska to meet my mom. Military families move around, as most of you know, so I have lived in many places. The most exciting place was Japan; unfortunately, I was too young to enjoy or remember the experience. Living in Texas for a huge portion of my life means I consider myself a good ole Texas gal.
Moving from place to place, I was always the new kid so I couldn’t be shy, and people who know me will tell you that being shy is not a problem for me in the slightest. I love meeting people and making new friends wherever I go. My aunt introduced me to the classics, Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, Black Beauty, Heidi, Charlotte’s Webb and Alice in Wonderland, to name a few. Reading took me to a new place and with my vivid imagination drawing me into the book, I was part of the story. From the classics, I moved to mysteries, Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys, graduating to the love stories of Harlequin and Silhouette.
Before the Internet and personal computers, I either typed or wrote longhand. However, my handwriting stinks (perhaps I should have been a physician) and I had problems reading it myself. I know you are laughing and so am I. So, yes; I used an old fashion typewriter.
I finally had enough of a manuscript to work with and a query. I was ready to send it by snail mail to Harlequin. Despite all the slush piles, I hoped at least my work would be reviewed before they trashed it, sending me the obligatory “thank you but no thank you” reply. Snail mail takes forever and replies even longer. So I went about my life, and I kept writing when I found the time.
I received an unexpected phone call from New York months later. A representative from Harlequin was calling. My heart was racing. It excited me that maybe my dream of being a published author was about to come true. No. My dream was still a dream. I was disappointed and exhilarated, but I would not give up.
Years later a chain of events happened, giving me ample time to write, and I pounded the keyboard, publishing my first children’s book. Afterward, I was given an opportunity to have my first crime novel published, and since then I have finished the second and third Jack West Novels, and have been working on the fourth. Lest I forget, I also have a soon-to-be-published fantasy/romance, and the second book is in the works.
My life over the years has brought me full circle to a dream that began years ago. I am now a published author and excited that I get to entertain readers!

Reviews

[Robert Kearns · Rating 5 out of 5]

Twist of Fate is a bunch of fun. Deanna King has written a novel that causes you to want more.

First off, there's no waiting around for the action to get going. The author leaps off the diving board feet first on the opening page and never looks back.

There's a nice style to the writing which reminds me of pot boilers from the 1940's and '50 It's that stylishness that brings a certain flair to the story reminiscent of the Good Old Days.

This author has done a great job in taking us away to a land where our imaginations are allowed to run riot and is a reminder of why we like to read books.

Deanna King is a novelist to watch out for. There's more to come, and I think you'll be looking forward to it as much as I am.

[Charles Huard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Only through first 5 chapters I put down the Night Circus because after meeting King at bookstore I knew I needed to read it. In my opinion way better than Night Circus and the flow of the reading is enjoyable something I want to read. The whole writing aesthetic of the police station with Dawson, Jack, and Captain places you in a police station in down town Houston. My only regret is that I didn’t buy all five Deanna King is an excellent writer.

[Fred Bradford · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've always heard the phrase, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." Generally, I try to adhere to this advice. However...

I met the author, Deanna, at a book signing in McKinney, Texas. She was very adamant that I leave a review for her. So much so that she actually wrote the request into her signature in the copy I purchased. Well Deanna, here you go:

I don't know if your "Beta Reader" Thomas Faught is also your proof-reader and/or editor, but if so, I strongly suggest finding another or perhaps increasing Tom's salary. There are at least eight grammatical errors in the first chapter (11 pages) alone.

Additionally, I find your style of writing rather difficult to read, and I have no problem reading Shakespeare, Faulkner, Chaucer, and Homer. Hell, I've read dry science books that were much smoother reading.

I suspect the reason you're not getting many reviews, despite selling some books at your signings, is simply because your customers do not want to hurt your feelings. But without accurate criticism your skills will never improve and you'll never sell enough books to make a real living as a writer. I know this sounds harsh, but you really need to work on "flow." You need to find a better proof reader. And your (character) dialog needs to improve.

To be fair, I've only read this one [early] book of yours. Well, tried to read it, anyway. Perhaps your skills are much improved in latter books, I do not know. But I also do not have any interest in finding out. Throwing away eighteen bucks once is enough for me. That said, I truly wish you luck and hope all the best for you in the future.

[Deanna King]

I loved writing this novel and think it has a lot of twists and turns- and I absolutely loved writing my characters and their quirks and personalities. I hope I surprised you in the end !

[Bran · Rating 3 out of 5]

I met the author at a book signing where she mentioned the main character has the same name as my son. I bought the whole series and just finished the first one. This is an okay book. Better editing would make for a more solid flow to the story. There were a lot of incomplete sentences but it didn’t seem to be a stylistic way. Some of the dialogue was good and some was really weird and awkward. There were way more characters than I like to keep track of. A lot of telling vs. showing happened when it came to people’s personalities and histories. The case about the murdered elderly couple and the romance seemed completely unnecessary in my opinion.

All that said, the book didn’t feel like a waste of time. I didn’t finish it and think “wow I spent my time on that?” It’s a decent detective novel with some familiar tropes, which can be nice and comforting in a way. Decent way to pass the time and I hope to read the other books still.

I did read the excerpt at the end for the next book and can already tell that the writing and editing has drastically improved in the second one.

[Kagan Holifield · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finished this book over a week ago, but waited to leave my review until I finished the second book in the series. The storyline is great! I give the story 5 stars. It’s intriguing, not once did I lose interest. However…it was challenging to look past all the grammatical errors. I had hoped that book 2 would have improved in that area but sadly it did not. I do understand that Ms. King is a newer author and that as she continues to write and grow the errors will lessen. I see a lot of potential with this author to be well known in the future. I will continue to follow Ms. King and the Jack West novels. With some revision, this book would absolutely get 5 stars from me!

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a bit to get into Twist of Fate. I got a lot of the Texan quirks, in the way a lot of the characters spoke, but I'm not sure many others would really get them. It's like we speak a whole other language here.

I really liked the book. I think it could have been done completely without the extra case that they worked. To me it, it felt like it was filler. I had already figured out the who dunnit right off the bat.

I like the chemistry between Jack and Gretchen and I hope to see a good relationship develop in the rest of the series.

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like this should have started with Jack and the beginning bit with Celeste should have been woven throughout the book.
Once Jack investigates its repeated and the reader already knows what's going to happen.
Other than that, I really enjoyed this. Jack and Lucky are a good team and interesting characters.

[Kalani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved the book

I recently met Deanna at the Gun and knife show in Abilene and this collection caught my eye and without much arm twisting I got the entire collection. I started this book yesterday and just could not put it down. I love the way the story is told and how everything comes together throughout the book. I am starting the 2nd book now and I am so excited to see what Jack will do next!

[Diane E]

Good story

After solving a fresh murder case in 48 hours, Jack and his partner are given 2 unrelated cold cases to review . Little did they know how complicated and involved the cases would become .
Too many typos for a 5 star review .

[Paula Gifford · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. Fast paced with high intensity from beginning to end. I can't wait for the next book to come out.

[Savvy Library · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, it did what I wanted it to do which was be a murder mystery. I’m looking forward to hopefully getting a better connection with the main character and hopefully more twists in the next books.

[Sylvia Dobbins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good detective story. Plot was well presented.

[M Mantelism · Rating 5 out of 5]

up and coming author from Houston, TX
this is her first book - It was a good read and made me to read her next book as well. Now I'm on her 3rd book