New inspirational thriller from Anita Klumpers

A Murder of Crows 

Anita Klumpers 

Romantic Suspense 

c. April 2022, Prism Book, Pelican Book Group 

347  pp

$5.99 ebook

Buy on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Publisher book store

About the book

On a video call, Paulina Deacon watches her friend follow a frenzied murder of crows through the woods. Moments later, Pauli is horrified when John stumbles upon three men and is murdered. In fear for her own life, she drives until she finds herself in the small town of Brier, Wisconsin. She reinvents herself as Polly Madison and is quickly hired to work doing odd jobs at a rehabilitation clinic.

Hal Karlsen has poured his life in to the Sweetbrier clinic helping people with addictions. When Polly arrives with her secrets, he is equal parts irritated and intrigued.
Terror follows Pauli to this small town and grows stronger each day as she finds her place in the tiny, welcoming community. Slowly, she begins to open up to Hal. As they work together to uncover exactly who is after her and why, their friendship deepens.

He pledges to keep her safe. She swears to protect the clinic. But can either live up to those promises while the danger increases daily? And will those murderous crows drive her mad before they figure it all out?

My Review

Crows gather at the oddest times for the most intriguing reasons. When they flock at the apparent murder of her current crush in a back wood in North Dakota where Pauli had been substitute teaching and coaching, she naturally relates the behavior to peril. After trying to place calls to the sheriff and not knowing what else to do, Pauli drives across two states until she comes to a tiny town in Wisconsin that seems a safe harbor until she can sort out the oddness of her life.

Restrictions on contact with the outside world limit Pauli’s ability to learn about the events surrounding the murder. When she’s forced to rely on strangers, however kind and eager to help they are, things begin to unravel in her new little world of honesty, faith, and odd jobs, exercise and knitting classes at a local institution helping everyone from the rich and famous to every-day folk with their addictions. Crows continue to flock at times of danger, and when the stakes deepen, Pauli must decide who and how much to trust. Trust isn’t just a conditions between humans, she realizes. Matters of faith and putting her trust for her soul in the right place is her best therapy. The rest is frosting.

Anita’s story of rescue and finding home in a place of strangers all trying to heal together is a delight. Readers who enjoy tales of adventure and peril wrapped up in love and faith will love A Murder of Crows.

About the author

Anita Klumpers is Midwest born and bred, except for a brief and exhilarating few years in Denver when she was small. She received a teaching degree sometime in the previous millennium and used it mostly to homeschool her three sons. These days Anita chases her grandchildren around, waving books at them and suggesting everyone cuddle up for a good story.

Good stories are her passion, especially if they are well-written, have a dose of humor, just a tickle of romance, and a decidedly non-gory mystery. On the other hand, she lists Frankenstein and Fahrenheit 451 as two of her favorite books. Go figure.

Creating skits was Anita’s first foray into writing. Always up for a challenge and a reason to postpone defrosting the freezer, she tried her hand at a full-length novel. It only took five years, but she did it!

Daily (honestly) she marvels at how much she loves coffee and her husband; her family, friends and church. Even more, she is astonished at how much she is loved by her Lord and Savior.

Sara Foust and Rarity Mountain

Rarity Mountain
Sara L Foust
Christian Adventure/Romantic Suspense

Mantle Rock Publishing
c. March 5, 2019

About the Book

On the surface, SIMON FINCUFF and FERN STRONGBOW have nothing in common. Simon has served his sentence, but his past conviction still haunts him. Fern is a veterinarian and grew up on an off-the-grid homestead. The one thing they share? Each has a dark secret they would do almost anything to protect.

When their current careers are yanked away, they are left scrambling to pick up the pieces. A reality television show falls into their paths, offering a life-changing opportunity that tests their resolve and their faith.

These two unlikely partners must battle to survive for thirty days in the untouched wilderness of Rarity Mountain with only a handful of survival items and a director who is out for drama, no matter the cost. With their lives and their carefully guarded skeletons on the line, they will discover how far they are willing to go to win the million-dollar prize for Survival Tennessee. 

Ebook
Print $14.99
Buy on Amazon

A Brief Interview with the Author

Sara, what do you love about this book?

I love writing stories about broken people who find their way to a new or a stronger faith. Rarity Mountain is no exception. Both Fern and Simon have something in their pasts they are ashamed of and must make peace with. Fern, especially, needs to find God’s forgiveness and love and, through Him, learn to have faith in mankind and in God.

Share a couple of things you learned while researching this story.

The setting for Rarity Mountain is the actual Rarity Mountain exit of I-75 here in East Tennessee, just before you reach the Kentucky border. I knew of its existence and its interesting story about a wealthy man who purchased it, planned a huge development, convinced the state of Tennessee to build an interchange, and then filed for bankruptcy soon after. I learned during more research that the plot is 4,600 acres and was meant to be home to not only luxury homes but a golf course, shopping center, and hotel. None of that happened, though.

Introduce us to the character who made you laugh first.

Fern is a very serious veterinarian who is uncomfortable with her past. She does not trust easily and believes that other humans will inevitably let her down. Her sarcastic, sometimes self-abasing humor made me laugh first. She is clever and intelligent but broken. I loved seeing her story develop into such a beautiful faith journey.

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

That the story of Fern’s journey to forgiveness moved them. Maybe even gave them courage to let loose some of their skeletons and move on.

What are you reading now?

I am actually in between books right now, but I am anxiously awaiting a few self-discovery books from Amazon and March’s ACFW book club book.

What’s next?

I am working on the first book in a 3-book (maybe more!) series called The Jade Owl. It is about an East Tennessee archaeologist who is looking for an ancient pirate treasure buried somewhere in the Great Smoky Mountains.

About the Author

Sara is a multi-published, award-winning author and homeschooling mother of five who writes surrounded by the beauty of East Tennessee. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Animal Science from the University of Tennessee and is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers. She is the author of the Love, Hope, and Faith Series, which includes Callum's Compass (2017), Camp Hope (2018), and Rarity Mountain (March 2019).  She also has a story, “Leap of Faith,” in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Step Outside Your Comfort Zone. Sara finds inspiration in her faith, her family, and the beauty of nature. When she isn’t writing, you can find her reading, camping, and spending time outdoors with her family. To learn more about her and her work or to become a part of her email friend’s group, please visit www.saralfoust.com.

How to reach me:

Website: www.saralfoust.com

Newsletter sign up: http://eepurl.com/cfqP5H

Email: sfoust25@hotmail.com

Facebook:   https://www.facebook.com/SaraLFoust/

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/Sfoust25

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/sfoust25/

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/saralfoust

Sunnys Dream with Mary Ball

Sunny’s Dream

Mary L. Ball

Contemporary Christian Romantic Suspense

Forget-Me-Not Romances, December 2017

Kindle: $2.99

Print: $7.47

Buy on Amazon

About the Book

“Sunny’s Dream,” Celestial Investigation, book one.

A Christian romantic suspense based on three sisters. Their P.I. skills come in handy in the quaint town of Mercy, North Carolina, a place where romance and mystery unite.

Sunny Kast spends her week fighting cyber-crime, and dreaming of her prince charming.

When a man walks into Celestial Investigations and introduces himself as Trouble, she’s sure he’s not her prince and positive that he lives up to his name.

After Max Trouble finds an important document, his life gets complicated with the know-it-all P.I. hired to track down its owner.

Sunny and Max’s relationship grows. She’s optimistic that he may be her prince charming, but after her car is sabotaged, and she’s almost killed Max’s chauvinist ideas of a female investigator surface.

Will she see God’s perfect plan, or a not-so-perfect relationship?

Mary, tell us what you love about this book.

This is my first series. I liked creating novellas about three feisty sisters who run an investigating firm. 

Share two things you learned while writing this book.

I learned a lot about poisonings, LOL and requirements needed to be an investigator in NC.

What can you tell us about the series?

It’s a Christian suspense about three sisters in a small town who deal with the same shortcomings all sisters do and ban together to solve crimes.  

What do you hope readers will tell others when they've finished the book?

That they enjoyed the series.         

What are you reading now?

Lessons from David- How to be a Giant Killer by Andrew Wommack. I have a whole shelf of fiction TBR’s I need to tackle.

About the Author

Mary L. Ball is a multi-published Christian author. She lives in North Carolina and enjoys fishing,

reading, and ministering in song with her hubby at functions. Her books are about small-town romance, suspense, and mystery, influenced by the grace of Jesus Christ.  

   

Readers can check out her titles at: https://www.amazon.com/Mary-L-Ball/e/B007O97Y0E

Connect on:

http://www.marylball.com

https://www.facebook.com/gracefulbooks

https://twitter.com/inspires4mary

Awesome suspense Risky Research with Kim McMahill

Currently on sale for 99 cents on Amazon - check for price before purchase

A Dose of Danger

Kim McMahill

Prism Book Group, May 2015

Suspense

$3.99 eBook/$13.99 Print

ISBN:  978-1-943104-08-6

When researcher Grace Talbot and her team discover a possible solution for weight loss they become targets of a group dedicated to controlling the multi-billion dollar a year diet-product industry. Her unsanctioned testing methods bring tragedy to the family ranch and the attention of the local sheriff’s deputy. With her colleagues either dead, missing, or on the run she soon realizes she must trust the deputy with her life, but can she trust him with her heart? 

My review:

Entrepreneurialism and greed is killing Americans from the inside out, and dedicated FBI Agents Devyn Nash and Nick Melonis are on the hunt in this new series from best-selling author Kim McMahill.

Using her home territory of the US West, readers go along on what becomes more than a manhunt, but a mysterious corporation with far-reaching tentacles infiltrating the food we eat from the farm animals up. In A Dose of Danger, McMahill explores what we hope is a fictional scenario in which the testing process of controlled substances used for human diet medications come under suspicion. The story opens with corporate researcher Grace Talbot on her way home to the family farm which she’s been informed has suffered a suspicious fire that killed long-time family farmhand Butch and severely injured her uncle, the man who raised her from childhood. Grace has an ulterior motive for rushing to the scene, however, as the reader soon learns of her own mistrust in the system she works for. She is met at the ranch by Deputy Logan Carlson, and the two of them struggle against the elements and desperate thugs to stay alive and salvage the research that holds the truth about project Grace is working on.

Well into the story we meet the FBI Agents Nash and Melonis who have been working the cases of mysterious deaths in various aspects of the food industry. When Grace’s colleagues start dropping like flies or running for their lives, Nash and Melonis wonder if this situation is another piece of the puzzle they are working on, and get involved. Grace must decide how much to trust Logan as the too-good-to-be-true deputy works out his own past issues in order to help keep her alive.

This is a stand-alone story, however, the FBI Agents carry on their work in the next book in which they attempt to get closer to the mysterious corporation trying to affect our eating habits. The suspense kept me coming back to read in every spare moment, and I bonded with the characters and their dilemmas. I expected a shoot out to be typical and was prepared to skim through it but ended up reading every word. Those who enjoy romantic suspense with several twists, large casts telling the story from several viewpoints, and with more than one side story going on will eat up this series.

Currently on sale for 99 cents on Amazon! - check price before purchase.

A Taste of Tragedy

Kim McMahill

Suspense

Prism Book Group, April 2016

$3.99 eBook/$13.99 Print

ISBN:  978-1-943104-45-1

Morgan Hunter sacrificed everything for her career. She had yet to encounter anything she wasn’t willing to do to succeed...until now. When she uncovers evidence that the healthy foods she’s been hired to promote may be dangerous, she must reevaluate her priorities. As questions mount and the body count rises, she finds herself caught in the cross-hairs of an organization that will stop at nothing to hide its secrets and protect its profits. With no one else to trust, Morgan is forced to seek help from the man she drove away, but whom she never stopped loving...

My review:

The second book in best-selling author Kim McMahill’s Risky Research series brings FBI Agents Devyn Nash and Nick Melonis a little closer to their hunt for a mysterious corporation trying to manipulate American food and eating habits through the use of dangerous uncontrolled substances. In this story, a southwestern corporation making pre-packaged frozen foods for sale is under suspicion when a new division manager, Morgan Hunter, comes on the scene. Only the job is not what is appears to be and as Morgan searches for elusive information too carefully guarded by a micro-managing corporate head and the creepy assistant assigned to her, she stirs up a whole lot of danger. Unsure how to proceed when she finds a mysterious message, she calls on her former husband for help. Learning her predecessor died triggers the attention of the FBI who move in to tie this case to their own hunt for corporate greed stopping at nothing for their own nefarious purpose.

While this story can stand alone, readers will want to have read or read A Dose of Danger, the first book in the series, to be better acquainted with the FBI case and some of the characters introduced then. There is a large cast to get to know, and while they are so well drawn it’s easy to keep them apart, there is some back story that makes it a smoother transition to this new part of the series. Told in multiple character viewpoints, the pace keeps readers turning pages. For those who like clean-reading romantic suspense with lots of twists and angles to explore and ruthless characters, A Taste of Tragedy will satisfy. I look forward to reading more.

Book Review - Remember Me by Lara Van Hulzen

Remember Me, by Lara Van Hulzen

October 2014

Book one in the Men of Honor series

ISBN: 1502450062

Ebook $3.99

Print: $9.99

Inspirational romantic suspense

Amazon 

BN

From the Publisher: 

Detective Ben Russo is in trouble.
He just can’t remember why.

When a car accident lands Ben in the hospital, he can’t recall anything about his life. What he does know is he’s enchanted by a tiny nurse named Tess, but can’t shake the feeling they’re both in danger. 

After being left at the altar, Tess Jansenn moves to a new town and starts over. When her ex-fiancé, Ben, shows up in the ER where she works with no memory of her, she must decide – tell Ben who he is or let him remember on his own. 

Can Tess forgive and forget what drove them apart, and when Ben remembers, will the consequences of his choices make it too late for love? 

My Review:

How long can love really last? If it’s real, love forgives all things…even when those things don’t make sense and potentially involve another woman.

Van Hulzen’s story of a man who wakes up with no memory and as the patient of the woman he left at the altar six months previously, is a sweetly dramatic tale of everything that can go wrong when priorities get tangled up.

Tess gets the shock of her life when she meets her new patient – Ben, her former fiancé who’s supposed to be off finding himself in Europe after the tragic death of his parents, and the week before he commits himself to Tess.

All the man in the hospital bed knows is that he was in an accident and can’t seem to remember much about his life, not his name or residence. Strange puzzle pieces pop into his mind here and there, and odd abilities, like how to handle a gun, and a high level of peace when he’s with Tess, confuse him.

Tess decides not to tell him she knows him and let him regain his memory on his own. Both are troubled when his wallet is recovered, identifying him as a man neither of them feel comfortable about. But when the puzzle suddenly, terrifyingly, comes together, the picture reveals danger.

With the help of faith, family and friends, Ben and Tess remember that even though love is never a problem, but together they’re stronger when they trust each other.

I found myself eager to keep reading. Van Hulzen’s characters are likeable and the journey toward the conclusion enjoyable with some twists. Set in southern California, I enjoyed a nice trip away from Wisconsin, virtual surfing and sand between my toes. Told from Tess and Ben, and occasional secondary character, points of view, this story is a fun read for those who enjoy romantic suspense.

About the Author:

Lara Van Hulzen received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from Point Loma Nazarene University. She lives with her husband and three children in Northern California.

Book Review: Irene Hannon's Vanished

Vanished, by Irene Hannon

Book one of Private Justice

 

Revell Books

$14.99

January 2013

978-0-8007-2123-7

 

A bump in the night and eyes full of terror won’t let go of Moira Harrison. Was it her Pulitzer-prize nominated instincts, a bad memory, or guilty conscience that sent her to Phoenix, Inc, seeking justice. But for who?

 

Phoenix, Inc., the PI firm recommended by her colleague at the newspaper doesn’t exactly fit Moira’s idea of the office of private investigators, even though she’s never visited one before. The receptionist’s outlandish taste of dress almost offsets the soothing décor. And then Moira meets Cal Burke.

 

After hearing her crazy story of skidding in front of a woman and hitting her in the rain on a lonely road while Moira was reaching for her long-distance glasses, tincluding a man who said he’d help her but didn’t, and no evidence of anything but burned rubber, Cal Burke, ex-ATF agent and partner at Phoenix Inc., must be nuts to take her case. Pro-bono. Even the cops were hard-put to do anything but close the file.

 

Moira’s credentials as an investigative reporter help Cal believe, and when the math doesn’t start to add up, the hunt is on for a Samaritan whose kindness could put Moira in the afterlife before anyone’s ready. Certainly not Cal, whose five-year mourning period for his late wife is melting away, and Moira, who’s been burned by romance one too many times in the past.

 

Join this middle-thirties couple and their friends as they search for justice for a nameless victim.

 

I’ve been an Irene Hannon fan for a while, and enjoyed this story. It’s fast-paced and extremely well-detailed without crossing into the boring. A few little glitches, like adding some extraneous character point of view scenes for a situation that simply didn’t need more explanation felt like filler, but weren’t fatal to the pace. I liked the characters and their inevitable conclusion. I liked the investigative techniques, which might also make the details fall into place a little too coincidentally; but overall, Vanished is a great addition to Hannon’s repertoire. The next books in the series I’m sure will prove to be just as entertaining.

 

Available January 2013 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.