Courting Danger suspsense with Nike Chillemi

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About the Book:

Newly installed Pelican Beach, FL detective Katerina "Kat" Andruko fears the prime suspect will get off in the murder of a teen with the help of the department's forensics psychologist, a man she's just started to trust.

The case has national security implications giving former US Army Ranger, Dr. Dimitri Garmonin a chance to work with the FBI. It could help him gain funds needed to expand his small Behavior Analysis Unit. He's unmoved by the chic FBI agent but is intrigued by Kat with whom he shares a Slavic heritage.

Det. Katerina "Kat" Andruko and her partner detain two wrong suspects, giving the department negative press. The predator turns his anger on Kat, targeting her. Can Dimitri use his profiler skills to protect Kat before the feisty detective does something else to enrage this killer.

A Brief Interview with the Author:

Q: What do you love about your new book?

A: I loved giggling and laughing as I created and wrote my quirky characters. It was such fun dressing middle-aged Detective Gilbert Nash in Sonny Crocket/Miami Vice type colorful suits. He makes his first appearance at the murder site in a cornflower-blue suit jacket, beige silk tee, tan slacks, and sockless feet in tan and black loafers. Another time he shows up in a pumpkin-colored suit which he claims is a "perfectly acceptable fall color." I got such a kick out of the wryly humorous courtroom scene where the elderly Honorable Hyam Noach Levine puts a gangbanger in his place.

Q: What are two things you learned while researching?

A: In this case, the novel itself took its shape from my personal research. I knew I was going to write about a serial killer in a beach town as early as 2014. At that time, Russia was invading Crimea in the Ukraine. As I'm of Ukrainian heritage, I was amazed and proud of the Ukrainian Orthodox priests who stood in front of Russian tanks holding crosses. It spurred me on to read articles about how these priests ministered to the people of the Crimea day and night while they were under attack. So, I thought, what if I made my American born heroine the child of devout Ukrainian Orthodox parents. Of course, you have conflict when she suspects the hero, the city's profiler of being the murderer…and even more conflict when the sexy FBI agent makes a play for him. But I thought why not create underlying socio-ethnic conflict/suspicion and make the profiler Russian-born.

Q: Tell us about the character who gave you the most trouble.

A: My killer gave me the most trouble. I can't go into too much detail without giving this individual's identity away.

Q: What do you hope readers will tell others about your book?

A: That the novel engages the reader on multi-levels. -- And that it's 99 cents all summer.

Q: What are you reading now?

A: Magnolia Storms by Janet W. Ferguson, and I'm enjoying it tremendously.

Q: What’s next?

A: I'm working on a new detective novel with a national security twist entitled Acts of Malice. It's heroine, Lavender Raines, is a new widow. Her husband has been brutally murdered and it appears he was involved in something covert. The hero, known as Mackey, who Lavender is wary of from the get-go, is an operative with a clandestine organization. Unbeknownst to her, he has been tasked with finding her husband's killers.

About the Author:

Nike N. Chillemi writes contemporary detective novels, It's been said she writes literature that reads like pulp fiction. Plenty of action, a dash of grit, wry humor as well as an uplifting message. There's often a national security/public safety twist to them. She likes her bad guys really bad, her good guys smarter and better. Her newest endeavor is COURTING DANGER.

Nike is the founding board member of the Grace Filled Fiction Spotlight (formerly the Grace Awards) and its Chair, a platform to promote excellence in Christian fiction. She has been a judge in the 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, and 2017 Carol Awards in the suspense, mystery, and romantic suspense categories; the Genesis Awards in 2019; and an Inspy Awards 2010 judge in the Suspense/Thriller/Mystery category. Her four novel Sanctuary Point series (out of print), set in the mid-1940s has finaled, won an award, and garnered critical acclaim. The first novel in the Veronica "Ronnie" Ingels/Dawson Hughes series HARMFUL INTENT won in the Grace Awards 2014 Mystery/Romantic Suspense/Thriller/Historical Suspense category. She has written book reviews for The Christian Pulse online magazine. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) and John 3:16 Marketing Network.  https://nikechillemi.com/

Nike Chillemi's Deadly Designs

Deadly Designs is available on Amazon in ebook format

$3.99 Buy on Amazon

About the Book:

Private investigator Veronica "Ronnie" Ingels teams up with Deputy Dawson Hughes to find a geeky radio broadcaster's missing wife and young daughter. They fear the woman and child were taken by Islamic terrorists as revenge against the husband's pro-Israel, conspiracy theory broadcasts. The investigation takes Ronnie and Hughes from a manicured Connecticut estate, to interviews with an elitist A-List society crowd, and run-ins with cranky local police detectives. Then they plunge deep into the seamy, drug-riddled underbelly of the fashion world, with the specter of international terrorism hovering.

Hughes has recently been promoted to lieutenant in the Taylor County, Texas Sheriff's Department. He's on leave on a special assignment with Authorized Operations (AO), a clandestine, quasi-government agency operating out of a sea-side mansion in Hither Hills, NY. The only thing is, many powerful politicians, and government big-wigs claim Authorized Operations doesn't exist.

Ronnie is furious at both Hughes and the broadcaster for waiting thirty-six hours to start the search. She knows the longer it takes, the less chance there is of finding the child alive. The problem is, radio talk-show host Ed Harper has been hoping-against-hope that his pot-smoking, model wife is on one of her 'esoteric experiences' and has simply taken the child while she romps for a few days. He doesn't want to seriously consider the other, more hazardous possibility… that his radio broadcasts have angered some very dangerous people.

Nike, what do you love about this book?

I loved building tension, and creating plot twists in this one…and there were quite a number of conundrums. I thoroughly enjoyed dishing out turmoil, not to mention mayhem to Ronnie and Dawson. Keeping them on their toes was such fun for me.

Introduce us to the character you had the most trouble with.

I had the most trouble with Ronnie. I had to reveal something deep and dark from her past. To do this I had to lead up to it in a natural way and then set up a circumstance whereby it would be plausible for it to come out.

What do you hope readers will tell other readers when they’ve finished the book?

I hope readers will tell other others it was an exciting detective story. I'd also like for readers to mention that although there were a few dark moments in the novel, there was also wry humor, and overall it was uplifting.

About the Author:

Like so many writers, Nike Chillemi started writing at a very young age. She still has the Crayola,

fully illustrated book she penned (colored might be more accurate) as a little girl about her then off-the-chart love of horses. Today, you might call her a crime fictionista. Her passion is crime fiction. She likes her bad guys really bad and her good guys smarter and better.

Nike is the founding board member of the Grace Awards and is its Chair, a reader's choice awards for excellence in Christian fiction. She has been a judge in the 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014 Carol Awards in the suspense, mystery, and romantic suspense categories; and an Inspy Awards 2010 judge in the Suspense/Thriller/Mystery category. Her four novel Sanctuary Point series, set in the mid-1940s has finaled, won an award, and garnered critical acclaim. HARMFUL INTENT released under the auspices of her own publishing company, Crime Fictionista Press, won in the Grace Awards 2014 Mystery/Thriller/Romantic Suspense/Historic Suspense category. Her new release is DEADLY DESIGNS. She has written book reviews for The Christian Pulse online magazine. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) and John 3:16 Marketing Network.  

http://nikechillemi.wordpress.com/