Monthly Archives: February 2020

Spotlight on The Nutcracker Conspiracy by Lauren Carr @TheMysteryLadie

by

2

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

“Steps up several levels into an exciting category all its own. It’s thriller, cold case, mystery suspense, and police procedural, all rolled into one exciting novel. Set amidst the political drama that comes with Washington DC and the Pentagon, a current multiple murder becomes a search years in the past. With a young, hot lieutenant assigned to NCIS, and his beautiful new wife, you have all the makings of a bestseller.  Nicely done, Ms. Carr!” – Review by Merry Citarella, Mystery Suspense Reviews

 

************
 

The Latest Best-Selling Thorny Rose Mystery Available Now!

Get Your Copy Today!

Join us for this tour from Jan 20 to Feb 28, 2020!

 

Book Details:

Book Title:  The Nutcracker Conspiracy (A Thorny Rose Mystery #4) by Lauren Carr
Category:  Adult Fiction (18 +),  388 pages
Genre:  Mystery
Publisher:  Acorn Book Services
Release date:   January 30, 2020
Content Rating:  PG-13 (Lauren Carr’s books are murder mysteries, so there are murders involved. Occasionally, a murder will happen on stage. There is sexual content, but always behind closed doors. Some mild swearing (a hell or a damn few and far between). No F-bombs!

 

Book Description:

Three years ago, the nation gasped in horror when the President of the United States barely escaped an assassination attempt that left two
dead—the vice president’s wife and the attempted assassin.  Even after numerous investigations proved otherwise, conspiracy theorists argue
that the assassin was acting on orders from the CIA, FBI, and every federal agency within a hundred miles of the capital.

Aspiring Author Dean Conway is the last person Lieutenant Commander Murphy Thornton wants to spend his Saturday afternoon when they end up at the same wedding reception table. While their wives tend to bridesmaid duties, Murphy is trapped listening to Dean’s latest work-in-project—completing the manuscript of an investigative journalist who’d disappeared months earlier.

“She was number twelve,” Dean says.

“Twelve?” Murphy asks.

“Twelve witnesses connected to or investigating The Nutcracker shooting have died either in an accident or suicide.”

Two days later, Dean dies suddenly―but not before sending a text message to Murphy:

“13”

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

Check Out These Other Thorny Rose Mysteries:

“The plot was original, fresh and fast paced in spite of the “traditional elements” employed which can normally be found in any other thriller of this genre. The USP of this story would be its unpredictability. When you think you have it all guessed up, the plot would change its course keeping you hooked. There were a lot of suspense twists and turns that kept the momentum up. Needless to say, the writing was simply perfect. One thing that writer needs to be lauded for is the humor she inculcated in the book. Minus those humorous parts, the book would have been one serious read.” – Reviewer: Book and Ink

 

Book Description:

Five women with seemingly nothing in common are found brutally murdered in a townhome outside Washington, DC. Among the many questions surrounding the massacre is what had brought these apparent strangers together only to be killed.

Taking on his first official murder case, Lieutenant Murphy Thornton, USN, believes that if he can uncover the thread connecting the victims, then he can find their murderer.

The case takes an unexpected turn when Murphy discovers that one of the victims has a connection to his stepmother, Homicide Detective Cameron Gates. One wintry night, over a dozen years before, her first husband, a Pennsylvania State trooper, had been run down while working a night shift on the turnpike.

In this first installment of the Thorny Rose Mysteries, the Lovers in Crime join newlyweds Murphy Thornton and Jessica Faraday to shift through a web of lies and cover-ups. Together, can the detectives of the Thorny Rose uncover the truth without falling victim to a cunning killer?

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

“Mysteries, murder, danger, and memories that threatens their lives keeps the action and suspense at a high level and even when the answers are found, it left me wanting more.” – Review by Sherry Fundin of Fundinmental

 

Book Description:

After ten months of marital bliss, Jessica Faraday and Murphy Thornton are still discovering and adjusting to their life together. Settled in their new home, everything appears to be perfect … except in the middle of the night when, in the darkest shadows of her subconscious, a deep secret from Jessica’s past creeps to the surface to make her strike out at Murphy.

When investigative journalist Dallas Walker tells the couple about her latest case, known as the Pine Bridge Massacre, they realize Jessica may have witnessed the murder of a family while visiting family at the winery near-by, and suppressed the memory.

Determined to uncover the truth and find justice for the murder victims, Jessica and Murphy return to the scene of the crime with Dallas Walker, a spunky bull-headed Texan. Can this family reunion bring closure for a community touched by tragedy or will this prickly get-together bring an end to the Thorny Rose couple?

 Buy the Book:
Amazon ~ Audible
Add to Goodreads
************

Murder by Perfection is a wonderful read and a perfect to escape from the challenges of a busy day. Danger, intrigue, humor, and love all take their turn in this tale which will keep you reading into the wee hours.” Review by Marilyn R. Wilson, Olio by Marilyn

Book Description:

Beware: Perfection has a dark side!

Frustrated with their busy schedules, Murphy Thornton and Jessica Faraday attempt to find togetherness by scheduling a weekly date night. The last thing Jessica Faraday expected for her date night was to take a couple’s gourmet cooking course at the Stepford Kitchen Studio, owned by Chef Natalie Stepford―the model of perfection in looks, home, and business.

When Natalie ends up dead and Murphy goes missing, the Thorny Rose detectives must peel back the layers of Natalie Stepford’s life to discover that the pursuit of perfection can be deadly.

Buy the Book:
Amazon
Add to Goodreads
************

Meet the Author:

Lauren Carr is the international best-selling author of the Mac Faraday, Lovers in Crime, Chris Matheson
Cold Case, and Thorny Rose Mysteries—over twenty-five titles across three fast-paced mystery series filled with twists and turns!

Book reviewers and readers alike rave about how Lauren Carr’s seamlessly crosses genres to include mystery, suspense, crime fiction, police procedurals, romance, and humor.

A popular speaker, Lauren is also the owner of Acorn Book Service, the umbrella under which falls iRead Book Tours. She lives with her husband and two spoiled rotten German Shepherds on a mountain in Harpers Ferry, WV.

Connect with the author: Website  ~  Twitter  ~  Facebook  ~  Instagram

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

An Interview with Lauren Carr

1.   Can you share a bit about your journey to becoming a writer/published author? Looking back at your childhood were there any early signs you would become an author?

I was making up stories since I could talk. My mother used to marvel at my imagination. Also, I was one of those kids who had an imaginary friend. His name was Sam. I remember him. I would tell him stories. I was telling stories to the dogs. When I would read books, a love I inherited from my mother, I would rewrite them. I’d turn The Bobbsey Twins mysteries into stories about a kidnapping.

I believe writers are born writers. It is something you are born with. You can always spot a writer. When you ask a “normal” person how their day is going, they will say, “Fine.” But when you ask a writer, they’ll set up the scene and characters, and give you a blow by blow about their day.

2.   Where do you find inspiration for your storylines? For the characters you create? What kind of research do you do to help with the details? 

I can get inspiration from anywhere. I confess, I watch a lot of true crime shows to get inspiration from actual murder cases. Forensics Files. Even fiction shows. I use them as a jumping off point.

Even though my books are character driven, the murder mystery always comes first. Since I write a number of different series, I then have to decide which series is a better fit for the mystery. For example, the mystery in The Nutcracker Conspiracy had to go to the Thorny Rose series because that series is placed in the Nation’s Capital. There was no way I could have placed a conspiracy involving an attempted assassination on the president in the resort town of Deep Creek Lake.

I’ll get a germ of an idea and bounce it off other writers. Then I will think on it while working on other things. Sometimes I’ll think about a storyline for weeks, or months, or even years. The plotline for my next work in progress, the next Mac Faraday, is one that I have turned over in my mind for more than a year.

I’ve been asked if I write down story ideas. The answer is no. Someone once asked Stephen King that. He said that if he wrote down his ideas, he would have a journal of bad ideas. I have found that to be true.

The good plotlines will stick with you. I’ve been inspired with what I thought was a great idea only to have it fade away and disappear. That’s why I don’t’ start writing a book until I have everything sorted out in my head.

3.   How does the writing process work for you? Do you schedule a time every day, work madly when inspiration hits or ?

I make time for writing. I love to write, and it is something that I look forward to every day. Since I took over iRead Book Tours, that is basically my day job. Writing is my escape. I dive into the world of my characters and shut everything else out.

I’ve worked with a number of writers and I tell them that if you want to be an author, you need to make time for your writing. There are always going to be chores and family and duties and jobs that can fill up your time until you find you have no time left to write. Granted, if you have a full-time job and a family, there will be things that you have to take care of. But there are also time thieves that will eat up time that you could otherwise spend writing. I cut out television. Time in the evening that others would be watching television shows, I spend working on my next book.

4.   As an author – what do you enjoy most about writing process? What feels like a chore?

Working out the murder case. Figuring out the entire plotline of how the murder was committed and then how my detectives solve the case—that I enjoy the most. I also enjoy editing the book. I know that sounds weird, but when I read through it after having written it and seeing everything coming to life is a kick.

The chore is getting the words on the page after I have put everything together. I enjoy writing the first half of the book because at that point, everything is still coming together. But by the time I reach the last half, the book is written in my mind. It’s done for me. Then, I still have to type the words out on the page and that is a chore. Sometimes, I feel like my own typist.

5.   What’s next for you as an author? Do you have any new books in the planning or writing stage?  

The next Mac Faraday mystery! This is book fourteen—Came Upon a Midnight Murder. This will be released this summer. It will have a Christmas theme to it. So look for Christmas in July—or June. We’ll see.

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

Tour Schedule:
Jan 20 – Library of Clean Reads – book review of The Nutcracker Conspiracy / author interview / giveaway
Jan 20 – Working Mommy Journal – book review of The Nutcracker Conspiracy / giveaway
Jan 20 – StoreyBook Reviews – book spotlight of The Nutcracker Conspiracy / author interview / giveaway
Jan 20 – #redhead.with.book – book spotlight of The Nutcracker Conspiracy / giveaway
Jan 20 – redpillows – book spotlight / guest post
Jan 21 – My Reading Journeys – book review of The Nutcracker Conspiracy / author interview / giveaway
Jan 21 – Rockin’ Book Reviews – series spotlight / giveaway
Jan 22 – Jypsylynn – book review of The Nutcracker Conspiracy
Jan 22 – eBook Addicts – series spotlight / giveaway
Jan 23 – Olio by Marilyn – book review of The Nutcracker Conspiracy / giveaway
Jan 23 – Leels Loves Books – book review of A Fine Year for Murder
Jan 24 – Bookmark and fork  – book spotlight of The Nutcracker Conspiracy / guest post / giveaway
Jan 27 – Christa Reads and Writes – book review of Murder by Perfection
Jan 28 – Bound 4 Escape – book review of The Nutcracker Conspiracy / giveaway
Jan 29 – 411 on Books, Authors, and Publishing News – book spotlight of The Nutcracker Conspiracy / guest post / giveaway
Jan 30 – Library of Clean Reads – series spotlight / giveaway
Jan 30 – Locks, Hooks and Books – book review of Kill and Run / giveaway
Jan 30 – 411 on Books, Authors, and Publishing News – series spotlight / author interview / giveaway
Jan 31 – fundinmental – series spotlight / giveaway
Jan 31 – redpillows – series spotlight
Feb 3 – b for bookreview – book spotlight of The Nutcracker Conspiracy
Feb 3 – Cassidy’s Bookshelves – book review of the Nutcracker Conspiracy / giveaway
Feb 4 – Christa Reads and Writes – book review of the Nutcracker Conspiracy
Feb 4 – Blooming with Books – book spotlight / giveaway
Feb 5 – Leels Loves Books – book review of Murder by Perfection
Feb 5 – Celticlady’s Reviews – series spotlight / giveaway
Feb 6 – Dab of Darkness Book Reviews – book spotlight of The Nutcracker Conspiracy / author interview / giveaway
Feb 7 – Rockin’ Book Reviews – book review of The Nutcracker Conspiracy / guest post / giveaway
Feb 7 – Book Corner News and Reviews – book review of Murder by Perfection
Feb 10 – Book Corner News and Reviews – book review of The Nutcracker Conspiracy
Feb 11 – Laura`s Interests – book review of The Nutcracker Conspiracy / guest post / giveaway
Feb 11 – eBook Addicts – book spotlight of The Nutcracker Conspiracy / giveaway
Feb 12 – FUONLYKNEW – book review of The Nutcracker Conspiracy / giveaway
Feb 12 – Leels Loves Books – book review of The Nutcracker Conspiracy
Feb 13 – Casia’s Corner – book review of Kill and Run
Feb 13 – I’m All About Books – book spotlight / guest post / giveaway
Feb 14 – Pause for Tales – book review of The Nutcracker Conspiracy
Feb 17 – Locks, Hooks and Books – book review of A Fine Year for Murder / giveaway
Feb 18 – Bookmark and fork  – series spotlight / giveaway
Feb 19 – JBronder Book Reviews – book review of The Nutcracker Conspiracy / guest post / giveaway
Feb 19 – Literary Flits – book spotlight of The Nutcracker Conspiracy / giveaway
Feb 20 – Svetlana’s reads and views – book review of The Nutcracker Conspiracy
Feb 21 – Divas With A Purpose – book review of The Nutcracker Conspiracy / guest post
Feb 24 – Laura`s Interests – series spotlight / giveaway
Feb 24 – My Devotional Thoughts – series spotlight
Feb 25 – Peaceful Pastime – book review of The Nutcracker Conspiracy / giveaway
Feb 25 – Svetlana’s reads and views – series spotlight
Feb 26 – Mystery Suspense Reviews – book spotlight of the Nutcracker Conspiracy / author interview
Feb 26 – Celticlady’s Reviews – book review of The Nutcracker Conspiracy / guest post / giveaway
Feb 26 – Locks, Hooks and Books – book review of The Nutcracker Conspiracy / guest post / giveaway
Feb 26 –fundinmental – book review of The Nutcracker Conspiracy / giveaway
Feb 27 – My Devotional Thoughts – book review / author interview / giveaway
Feb 27 – Read and Review – book spotlight / guest post / giveaway
Feb 28 – Nighttime Reading Center – book review of The Nutcracker Conspiracy / giveaway
Feb 28 – Casia’s Corner – book review of The Nutcracker Conspiracy
Feb 28 – Adventurous Jessy – book review of the Nutcracker Conspiracy / giveaway
************

Enter the Giveaway
$50 Amazon Gift Card
a Rafflecopter giveaway

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

 

Book Review: The Insurrection by Chris Babu @realchrisbabu @tlcbooktours

by

4

The Insurrection
The Initiation #3
Chris Babu
Permuted Press, February 2020
ISBN 978-1-68261-883-7
Hardcover

From the publisher—

They are protected by lies. He is armed with the truth.

Having survived the Initiation and expedition, one battle remains: the fight for the heart and soul of New America.

Drayden and his friends, enlisting the help of Professor Worth, must find a way back to New America before the Guardians imperil their return. But for these teens, their problems are only beginning. The Bureau, which never expected them to survive the expedition, will do everything in their power to prevent New America’s darkest secrets from getting out.

Drayden’s only hope is the insurrection led by ally Kim Craig. The David versus Goliath battle between good and evil, between truth and lies, will push Drayden to his breaking point and require bravery, self-acceptance, and above all, belief in himself. Backed by the will of the citizens, he’ll need to engineer an ingenious strategy to defeat the all-powerful authoritarians. The question is, will it be enough?

Predators in the wild, gang violence, a perilous ocean journey, confrontations with the Guardians…all, and more, are the many trials and tribulations a small band from Boston face as they work to help those who are resisting the Bureau of New America. How did we get here? A pandemic caused by Aeru, a deadly bacterium (uncomfortably close to what we currently have with the coronavirus) led to a totalitarian group dividing Manhattan into highly defended walled wards but, as you might expect, very little about this is beneficial to the citizens.

Drayden and his team , Catrice, Sidney and Charlie, along with the elderly Professor Worth, set out to become part of the incipient revolution led by Kim Craig but they also have personal issues to work through, especially the teens. When all is said and done, this band of resistors are able to focus on the task at hand, the defeat of the Bureau and they learn that their bonds give them the strength and the fortitude to do what needs to be done.

Mr. Babu is a very talented storyteller and I have to say I really appreciated the way he let these teens be more mature than so many authors do, with all of them able to keep the usual teen angst down to a dull roar. I haven’t read the first two books but I surely will now.

Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, February 2020.

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

Purchase Links:
Barnes & Noble // Books-A-Million // Amazon

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

About the Author

Chris Babu is a lifelong math and science geek, with a math degree from MIT. For nineteen years, he worked as a bond trader on Wall Street. Now he writes full-time, indulging his love of young adult books. He splits his time between New York City and the east end of Long Island, where he lives with his wife Michelle, daughter Lily, and Great Dane Buddy. He’s the author of The Initiation and The Expedition, and can be found at chrisbabu.com.

Connect with Chris:

Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

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

Follow the tour here.

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

Communities @kdkoppang

by

3

Kathleen Delaney, author of Murder Half-Baked and other books, retired from real estate to pursue writing full time. She’s here today to talk about what “community” means, by definition and by the broader concept of our immediate surroundings and the people around us.

Purebred Dead, the first in the new Mary McGill series, was released in August 2015 and Curtains for Miss Plym was released in April 2016. Blood Red, White and Blue was released in July 2017 and was a finalist for best canine book of the year in the Dog Writers of America annual writing contest. Kathleen’s newest book in the series, Dressed to Kill, was released in the UK on August 1, 2019 and in the US on November 1, 2019.

http://www.kathleendelaney.net/

Communities. A word we hear a lot but what exactly does it mean? According to my dictionary, it can have several meanings. A group of religious people, a group of people who live in a certain area, or who share a certain interest, culture, or goal. A bit vague but his definition, while a bit broad, seemed to me to tie up the meaning nicely.

And I quote  “A unified body of individuals such as the people with common interests living in a particular area.”

As a partly retired 83 year old woman with one leg, it seemed to describe how I am living. My house is small as are all of the houses in my area, the yards also small but private.  The people who live here are a mix of those coming and those going. Coming because they are starting out, sometimes with a baby, but not too many with a large and active family. For one thing, there isn’t enough room. Going because most of us here aren’t ready yet to give up our independence, but don’t want the burden of a large house and yard. We are a community. We know each other, we know each other’s families and that includes the 4 footed variety. We do things together sometimes, like going out to lunch but we do it when we want to, and nothing is organized. If you want the three B’s, bingo, bridge, or backgammon, you’ll have to go to the senior center.  We do, however, look after each other. If you don’t venture out for a couple of days, someone will call or knock on your door, making sure you aren’t lying on your living room rug unable to get up.  If you need a lift to the doctor’s office, someone is always available to drive. If you’re sick, you just may end up with a bowl of nice home made chicken soup.

My community is just one of many kinds, of course. You will find groups who have formed tight bonds everywhere. Churches, boosters for the local high school football team, car pools to soccer or pre-school, small sections of large cities where the sights and smells of another country can be savored and another language listened to. But I think that the areas that best describe community are small towns.

Everyone knows everyone else; the townspeople turn out to help when someone needs it. Think of the barn raisings of times past. Today its food to a funeral, baby sitting when a parent needs help, a full house at the Friday night football games, and an overflow crowd at the town hall meetings. Community in a small-town means taking care of each other. It also means knowing everyone else’s business, and sometimes not being afraid to talk about it.

The real-life Millie and her first book

It’s that very sense of community that makes small towns interesting to write about.  Especially if you write “cozies”. The very name of these mysteries suggests something warm and friendly, the way a close-knit community is supposed to be, but, of course, that is not always the case. Especially in cozy mysteries. People can be driven to murder even in the friendliest of towns, and it usually takes an even smaller, tighter community of friends to find who among them is responsible for such a heinous crime. At least, that’s how it works in the Mary McGill canine mysteries. It may be Mary who solves the crime, but she wouldn’t be able to do it without her community, dropping clues, feeding her information often not realizing they are feeding her the information she needs to solve the puzzle, ready to help when she and her cocker spaniel, Millie, invariably get into trouble.

Community. It’s what makes our schools successful, our churches relevant, keeps our government accountable, and by working together, solves a murder or two.

Book Review: Bound for Murder by Victoria Gilbert @VGilbertauthor @crookedlanebks

by

0

Bound for Murder
A Blue Ridge Library Mystery #4
Victoria Gilbert
Crooked Lane Books, January 2020
ISBN 978-1-64385-243-0
Hardcover

Subtitled “A Blue Ridge Library Mystery,” Bound for Murder is the fourth in this series.  The amateur sleuth, Amy, is a librarian, and the director of the Taylorsford Public Library.  Her best friend and employee, Sunny, is running for mayor of their town.  When a skeleton is found on property owned by Sunny’s grandparents, Carol and P.J., it becomes the talk of the small town.  Bolstered by the fact that Carol and P.J. used their land for a hippie commune back in the 1960s, and a couple of hippies left the commune and were not seen again, the incumbent mayor insinuates that Sunny’s family had something to do with the death which, as it turns out, was a murder.  And, when the skeleton is identified as someone who lived in the commune, suspicion of Carol and P.J. intensifies.

Amy, who does not believe that Carol and P.J. could have been involved in a murder, becomes determined to investigate, despite her fiancé’s concern for her safety.  In this she has the backing of the local Chief Deputy – at least partially – who asked her to do some research into the commune and its time.  However, he did not ask her to do any live investigating!  But, when Carol and P.J. ask Amy to deliver a message to former members of the commune, it seems like a perfect opportunity to ask questions without further raising suspicions.  Would that it was so!  Shortly after completing her round of questioning, Amy starts getting threats and the message that she should back off.  Unsurprisingly, she doesn’t do so.

Bound for Murder is an engaging cozy mystery, perfect for a weekend read and, as such, I recommend it.

Reviewed by Melinda Drew, February 2020.

Kilfane Church

by

0

Inese is a photographer in Ireland who shares some
of the most beautiful and intriguing shots I’ve seen.

A walk through a bit of Irish history…

Making memories

The day out with Pat the Fox Man continues.

After leaving Jerpoint Abbey, Pat asked me if I ever been to Kilfane Church. I haven’t, so off we went.

Medieval parish church of Kilfane, now in ruins, is located on the other side of Thomastown, some 15 minutes drive from Jerpoint Abbey. The adjoining structure is a presbytery – a stone house where the parish priests resided in the upper floors.

The graveyard alone deserves a separate blog post.

Good timing! Inside the church we met a very knowledgeable man who makes a living doing what he loves – an archaeologist, author and photographer Chris Corlett. Chris kindly answered my questions, and as we walked around the church he pointed out many things I would have overlooked. I left the men to chat and went to take some pictures for this blog post.

The biggest (literally) attraction of the…

View original post 722 more words

Book Review: My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

by

1

My Sister, the Serial Killer
Oyinkan Braithwaite
Anchor Books, July 2019
ISBN 978-0-525-56420-1
Trade Paperback

I thought the title of this book was both strange and amusing. I ignored it for a while until I began to notice it was getting quite a lot of attention, along with positive reviews.  So I took the plunge!  And I’m glad I did…

Korede, the protagonist, has a younger sister Ayoola who is the family beauty and the favourite daughter. She’s also a sociopath who at the start of the novel has just stabbed and killed her third and latest boyfriend. She calls Korede in a panic explaining she had no choice but to kill him and begs her sister to help her take care of this problem. Unable to deny her sister anything, Korede, a nurse, cleans the scene and removes and disposes of the body.

At the hospital where Korede works she has fallen in love with one of the Doctors and hopes one day he will feel the same about her.  But those dreams are shattered when, after meeting Ayoola he asks Korede for Ayoola’s phone number.  Her efforts to keep the two of them apart fail and soon Korede can only watch as the man she loves and her sister start dating.

The book is a fast read, with short snappy chapters that kept me turning the pages.  I felt sorry for Korede trapped in a situation she has little control of, but not for a minute did I think she would go to the police and turn in her sister.  Her love for Ayoola is strong, but so is her growing anxiety, and as the  tension intensifies Korede faces some difficult decisions…..

This is a fast and very enjoyable read…  Find out for yourself just how it ends!!!!

It’s a fun way to spend a snowy afternoon!!!

Reviewed by guest reviewer Moyra Tarling, December 2019.

Book Review: The Life Below by Alexandra Monir @TimelessAlex @harperteen @The_FFBC

by

3

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

Title: The Life Below
Author: Alexandra Monir
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication date: February 18, 2020
Genres: Science Fiction, Young Adult

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

Purchase Links:
Barnes & Noble // Kobo // Apple // Google Play
Amazon // Book Depository // Indiebound

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

The Life Below
Alexandra Monir
HarperTeen, February 2020
ISBN 978-0-06-265897-5
Hardcover

From the publisher—

As Naomi lifts off into space and away from a rapidly deteriorating Earth, she watches the world fade away, and along with it Leo, a Final Six contestant she grew close to during training. Leaving Earth behind is hard, but what’s ahead, on Europa, could be worse. The International Space Training Camp continues to hide the truth about what happened to the last group of astronauts who attempted a similar colonization but failed mysteriously. With one shot—at this mission and to Europa—Naomi is determined to find out if there is alien life on Europa before she and her crew get there.

Leo, back on Earth, has been working with renegade scientist Dr. Greta Wagner, who promises to fly him to space where he can essentially latch on to Naomi’s ship. And if Wagner’s hypothesis is right, it isn’t a possibility of coming in contact with extraterrestrial life on Europa—it’s a definite. With Naomi unaware of what awaits, it’s up to Leo to find and warn her and the others.

With all the pieces of their journey finally clicking into place, everything else starts to fall apart. A storm threatens to interfere with Leo’s takeoff, a deadly entity makes itself known to the Final Six, and the questions the ISTC has been avoiding about the previous failed mission get answered in the worst way possible. If the dream was to establish a habitable domain on Europa… the Final Six are about to enter a nightmare.

After our mindbending landing on the moon back in 1969, we’ve faltered in our quest to explore space. Mars seems like a barely attainable dream and no one apparently wants to go back to the moon. Imagine, then, the massive effort to go to Jupiter’s moon, Europa, to build a new home for humanity after we failed miserably on Earth to address climate change.

A tiny crew of six highly trained teens, accompanied by two AI’s, has a monumental task ahead of them when they lift off but it’s most alarming that they don’t really know what they’ll find on icy Europa. Why did the earlier mission fail and what is the International Space Training Camp hiding? There are so many things that can go wrong, not least of which is the possibility of finding alien life on Europa. Leo has learned something that could truly jeopardize the success of the mission and the safety of the crew but now he has to try to reach them before they get to Europa, before he loses Naomi forever.

Much of the action—and it’s pretty breakneck—focuses on the journey itself, as it should considering all the inherent dangers. I appreciated that because so many space exploration stories slide past the trials and tribulations of getting to the ultimate destination. The very real possibilities of space exploration are endlessly fascinating and Ms. Monir has crafted a story that’s worthy of those possibilities.

Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, February 2020.

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

Read an excerpt from The Life Below here.

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

About the Author

Alexandra Monir, Iranian-American author and recording artist, has published five novels for young adults, including her popular debut, Timeless. A Barnes & Noble best-seller and one of Amazon’s “Best Books of the Month,” Timeless and its sequel, Timekeeper, have been featured in numerous media outlets and been published in different countries around the world. She followed the duology with Suspicion and The Girl in the Picture, both standalone YA thrillers. Her science fiction novel, The Final Six (March 6, 2018) was acquired by HarperCollins and Sony Pictures during the same week, in two major pre-emptive deals.

Alexandra is also a singer/songwriter who often integrates music into her books’ pages. She wrote and recorded three original songs to accompany Timeless and Timekeeper, which were released as the album “The Timeless EP” and distributed by Jimmy Buffett’s record label, Mailboat Records. She also recorded a song that was released with the publication of Suspicion, and is composing a stage musical geared toward Broadway. Her musical roots are deep, as she is the granddaughter of the late Monir Vakili, the foremost Iranian opera singer.

Alexandra Monir is a frequent speaker at middle schools and high schools across the country, and at major events including fan conventions, women’s leadership conferences, and book festivals. She is a member of the Iranian American Women Foundation, an organization near to her heart. Alexandra currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband and newborn son. To learn more about Alexandra, visit her online at www.alexandramonir.com.

Website // Twitter // Facebook // Goodreads // Instagram

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

Follow the tour here.

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

Giveaway

Win a copy of THE LIFE BELOW
by Alexandra Monir (US Only)
Starts: 18th February 2020
Ends: 3rd March 2020

Enter here.

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