Giveaway - Dark City - F. Paul Wilson

Are you a Repairman Jack fan? (Stephen King is president of the Repairman Jack Fan Club!) Do you want to get to know this 'fix-it' man?

"For over twenty years, Repairman Jack has been one of the most popular characters in contemporary dark fantasy and thrillers. Blending science fiction, horror and mystery elements, F. Paul Wilson has woven a deep mythology around the beloved character in fifteen highly-original and engaging books. In May 2012, the series came to a close with Nightworld—Wilson’s definitive edition of a great, long-out-of-print work. Although previously published, this new version of Nightworld garnered a spot on the New York Times bestseller list proving fans are still hungry for more adventures.

Luckily for those longtime fans as well as any fan of great thrillers, Wilson now ventures into the earlier days of the Repairman in DARK CITY the second of three prequel novels which depict the naive New Jersey refugee’s metamorphosis into the urban mercenary known as Repairman Jack. 
   
DARK CITY takes readers back to February 1992.  Desert Storm is raging in Iraq but twenty-two-year-old Jack has more pressing matters at home. His favorite bar, The Spot, is about to be sold out from under Julio, Jack’s friend. Jack has been something of a tag-along to this point, but now he takes the reins and demonstrates his innate talent for seeing biters get bit. With a body count even higher than in Cold City, this second novel of the Early Years Trilogy hurtles Jack into the final volume in which all scores will be settled, all debts paid.

More of a straight crime novel than the later books of the Repairman Jack saga, DARK CITY is a perfect entry point for new readers and is sure to excite Wilson’s legion of fans by shedding more light on the background of their favorite “fix-it” man." Get a sneak peek - read an excerpt of Dark City. You can find F. Paul Wilson on Twitter.

Repairman Jack is one of the most original and intriguing characters to arise out of contemporary fiction in ages. His adventures are hugely entertaining.”

—Dean Koontz

Repairman Jack is one of the greatest fictional characters created by any thriller writer in the past half century. If you haven’t discovered him and his world yet, what a fabulous, extraordinary,

and electric reading experience awaits you.”

—Douglas Preston, cocreator of the Pendergast novels

 

And thanks to the lovely folks at Tor Books, I have a copy of Dark City to giveaway. Open to US and Canada, no po boxes please. Simply leave a comment to be entered.  Ends Nov. 16/13

Drift - Jon McGoran

When the farmers in my area are spraying their fields in the spring and fall, I always close the windows and don't bother hanging laundry out those days. Because, really you have no idea what they're spraying, although I'm pretty sure it's meant to kill bugs or weeds or something. So, needless to say,  it probably isn't good for people either.

Jon McGoran is a mystery writer who also happens to have a strong interest in food and sustainability. He's successfully combined those two interests into a entertaining, thought provoking new 'eco-thriller' with the release of Drift.

Doyle Carrick is a Philly detective on suspension from the force. With the death of his parents, he heads to their small town to wrap up their affairs and wait out his twenty day sentence. But what he finds isn't the idyllic little town he expected. While driving around he spots known drug dealers, his beautiful new neighbour Nola is receiving threats to sell her land to a developer and his own backyard backs on to a heavily fenced property. Nola is an organic farmer and it's taken her years to get her land and crops certified. But when her crop of corn develops an unknown fungus, and folks from the other side of the fence start shooting at Doyle, he is thrown headfirst into a deadly plot no one could have imagined.

I quite liked the character of Doyle. He's real, engaging and appealing. I'd like to see  Doyle being reprised in future novels/cases. Some of the characters were a wee bit stereotypical, such as the small town police chief who takes an immediate dislike to Doyle. But, there's never a question of who's on which side of right and wrong.

McGoran takes the time to provide a secondary storyline with Doyle, his interest in Nola and his relationship with his parents that give the character added depth and personality.

But it is the timely and frightening plot involving GMO's (genetically modified organisms) that really had me turning pages. Completely plausible and absolutely current. I did find that some of the clues were somewhat obvious, although our protagonist seemed to miss some of them. (Which I did find a little annoying and not quite believable as Doyle is a trained detective.)

In Drift, McGoran successfully combines mystery with reality, crafting an entertaining, action packed read. Drift will have you thinking twice about the food you eat as well.......Read an excerpt of Drift.

"Jon McGoran has written about food and sustainability for twenty years, as communication director at Weavers Way Co-op in Philadelphia, and now as editor at Grid magazine. During that time he has also been an advocate for urban agriculture, cooperative development and labeling of genetically engineered foods. He is a member of the Mystery Writers Association, the International Association of Crime Writers, and the International Thriller Writers. He is a founding member of the Philadelphia Liars Club, a group of published authors dedicated to promotion, networking, and service work. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife and son." You can find him on Facebook and on Twitter.

See what others on the TLC Book Tour thought - full schedule can be found here.