Giveaway - Orchids and Stone - Lisa Preston

Orchids and Stone is Lisa Preston's debut novel. It releases today - and I have a copy to giveaway to one lucky reader!

What's it about?  From the publisher, Thomas and Mercer:

"Daphne Mayfield is enjoying some solace in the park one afternoon—a break from city life, a tense relationship, and chronic overwork—when an elderly woman rushes up to her with a desperate plea, "They’re trying to take me. Help! Help me, please." Daphne, whose own sister was murdered twenty years earlier, always thought someone must have seen something and she realizes that she now may be in a similar situation. What if she fails to intervene in a highly suspicious situation if not a serious crime, and that because of her negligence a helpless old woman’s life is now in grave danger?

Even though everyone—her boyfriend, her friends, a retired homicide detective—tells her not to get involved, Daphne's suspicions are confirmed when she traces the victim’s name to a house, and upon investigating it, is assaulted, robbed, and dragged on a cat-and-mouse car chase through Seattle’s streets that ends with the assailant escaping and Daphne being arrested for reckless driving. Now determined to uncover the truth and stop the criminals herself, Daphne plunges into an increasingly treacherous web of deceit and danger. As the layers of the conspiracy peel away, she will have to overcome the demons of her own past and summon previously-untapped inner reserves of courage and trust in others if she is to save an innocent person and stay alive herself." Read an excerpt of Orchids and Stone.

"Lisa Preston turned to writing after careers as a fire department paramedic and a city police officer. Experience in her earlier professions enhance the medical and legal passages of her fiction. Away from her desk, she spends hours on backcountry trails as a runner and rider. She lives with her husband on Washington State's vast Olympic Peninsula." You can connect with Lisa on Facebook or find her on Goodreads.

And if Orchids and Stone sounds like a book you'd like, enter to win a copy using the Rafflecopter form below. Open to continental US only, no PO boxes please. Ends April 16/16.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Threshold - G. M. Ford

G.M. Ford writes tough guys - he has two other series featuring a journalist and a P.I. that I've enjoyed in the past. Ford's latest book, Threshold, introduces us to Detective Mickey Dolan. I was eager to meet this new character.

Dolan's marriage has ended and he's been on limited duties due to excessive force complaints. But, when a  powerful city councilor repeatedly demands that the department assign a detective to look into the 'disappearance' of his wife and daughters (there's a custody dispute), Mickey is put on the case. It may have been a local women's shelter group who helped the trio disappear. That group is run by a mother/daughter team who have seen their own share of violence. Ending there would have provided the basis for a good tale I think. But, Ford adds another somewhat paranormal element - Grace, the daughter, can revive people from comas.

I think the coma plot device would have been better left out. It just seemed cheesy to me and detracted from what could have been a really good detective novel.

There's also lot of Mickey's personal life in this book. I always enjoy secondary story lines, but Ford's exploration of gay relationships just seemed clumsy. Many turns of phrase were also dated...

"The place is wired for sound and pictures. Other than that, it's cleaner that Nancy Reagan's ass."

I'm not sure if this is the first book in a new series from Ford. It does take time to build a new character, but I'm not overly enamored with Mickey. Yes, his perspective changes and his actions 'redeem' him, but I never fully engaged with his struggle or his redemption. I've read the Leo Waterman series and really enjoyed them, but sadly Mickey fell flat for me.

That being said, Threshold was a quick read and an easy way to kill a few hours on a plane. Read an excerpt of Threshold. Now, that's just my opinion. See what other on the TLC tour thought - full schedule can be found here.

G.M. Ford broke onto the mystery scene with Who in Hell is Wanda Fuca?, a gin-soaked tome featuring Seattle private investigator Leo Waterman. The six-book Leo Waterman series was nominated for several awards, including the Shamus, the Anthony, and the Lefty. In 2001, Ford launched a new series featuring disgraced reporter Frank Corso and his goth assistant, Meg Dougherty. In 2011, after a twelve-year hiatus, he decided to write a new Leo Waterman novel, Thicker Than Water, which Thomas and Mercer promptly bought. His eighth Leo Waterman book, Chump Change, followed in 2014. Ford lives and works in Seattle, and is married to the beautiful and talented mystery author Skye Kathleen Moody.

Out of the Black - John Rector

Yes, more crime! It's my favourite genre. John Rector is a crime author I'd not read before and Out of the Black is his latest novel.

Former Marine Matt Caine is struggling with the death of his wife and his daughter Anna's serious injuries from the same accident that killed her mother. With the hospital bills for Anna piling up and no steady job, Matt does what he knows he shouldn't - he goes to the local loan shark for help. With his in-laws threatening to seek custody of Anna and the loan shark demanding his money, Matt makes another fateful decision. He agrees to be the wheel man for a job his childhood friend Jay has cooked up - kidnapping a wealthy man's wife.

As Jays says ..."This is easy money. The plan is rock solid. We can't lose."

Uh huh. You can see it coming can't you? Yep, the job doesn't go quite as planned...

Rector does an excellent job with the 'regular guy put in a bad situation' scenario. The focus is on the action, twists and turns that Rector has woven into his plot. And there were quite a few and some that I hadn't seen coming. Although Matt has his soft spots and treasured memories of his wife, character development comes a distant second to the rapid fire plot. But that's okay, as the book would bog down with too much sentimentality. Instead, Out of the Black reads like a Bruce Willis action flick. Tough guy with a soft centre, ready and willing to do anything to defend his own.

Rector writes in a pared down style - there are no unnecessary scenes or dialogue and the novel moves forward at a rapid pace. This was a good, quick page turner perfect for a lazy summer evening. Read an excerpt of Out of the Black. You can find John Rector on Twitter