Quiet Keystrokes and Midnight Ramblings

  While attending a virtual crime and thriller writing conference last fall, I got to hear Karin Slaughter talk about writing deliciously devious crimes. She was so engaging and entertaining, I was sure I'd enjoy her books. I got into her Grant County books, and as all good readers do, I started near the end of the series with no idea what was going on. And I enjoyed every page! See if this is the series for you on Amazon's series page right here . As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This doesn't cost you anything extra, but does help to fund Chai lattes and book purchases.

Do you ever pinch yourself to make sure you're actually where you are? That's how I feel about Make Them Pay ! I've read each of the stories in this jam-packed anthology... some of them twice... and still can't believe my words are tucked inside the cover of this massive collection of thrilling adventures, daring escapes, and heroic rescues. If you like to be thrilled, itching to turn the page to see what happens next, this anthology is for you. You can find it on Amazon right here . As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

OHMYGOSH you guys. A couple weeks ago I had the absolute pleasure of reading all twenty-two stories in Make Them Pay: A Thriller Anthology   and I couldn't put it down. I'm a fairly slow reader compared to many of my author friends, but I finished this nearly six hundred page behemoth in just four days. Granted, one of the stories is one I wrote ( Innocence Lost by D.K. Greene), but I devoured the other stories, too. Make Them Pay is a mixture of thrillers from authors who write military, vigilante justice, science thrillers, kidnappings, murder, hit men, and more. The stories are varied and fast paced, and you may just end up filling your TBR with a host of new authors you enjoy. At the time of this writing, the anthology is free with a  Kindle Unlimited  subscription (it's just a few bucks otherwise), and is also available in a handsome print edition. One of the really wonderful things surrounding this anthology is Michelle PW's author spotlight  series. She has i...

 While I've been writing and editing my story for the Make Them Pay; Thriller Anthology , I've been reading the second book in Gregg Olsen's Detective Megan Carpenter series. This is probably the third or fourth book from Olsen that I've read in recent memory. He isn't my favorite author, but he is certainly one to pick up when I simply want to read something I am pretty sure I'll be able to get through without a lot of effort. Water's Edge promised that for me, which I absolutely needed after reading another book that slogged on, and on, and on, for what felt like forever. It was a relief to pick up a book with a clear, multi-thread plot, with enough clues dropped along the way to figure the mystery out along with the characters. By two thirds of the way through, I thought I knew who did it... but was wrong! Not only do we see our detective and her associate solve the serial murders plaguing Washington's northern coastline, but we also find out more ab...

Sophie Warner watches from shore as her husband rows their daughter out into the water. The three-year-old is entranced with her first experience crabbing. But then, the unthinkable. A man approaches, attacks Sophie, and she's never seen alive again. Author Gregg Olsen is a master of weaving truth within lies. Throughout the book I had several moments where I was sure who was behind Mrs. Warner's disappearance, but each time I had an "aha", my finger turned on another character. With so much to gain, and even more to lose, everyone seemed to have a stake in the kidnapping and murder of the young mother. The novel was so gripping, I had a hard time putting it down and spent most of the last 24 hours walking the house with my kindle in my hand, stealing a quick paragraph here and there as I went about my day. I even got scolded for reading through dinner, something we banned long ago to focus on our family time. "How dare you read at the di...

My two great loves are books, and horse racing. When I was a kid, I wanted to grow up to be a jockey. At 5 foot 3 3/4 inches, it's the only thing in my life that I've been too tall for. But my deep desire to live life on the track gets spun up with glee when I find a book that brings the daring world of horse racing alive, and Banker  does more than that. It goes behind the scenes to the underbelly of racing, revealing the schemes and cheats that industry bottom dwellers use to get a leg up in the game. Banker  is written from the perspective of an investment banker, rising through the ranks at his family owned financial company. His parents gambled their lives away at the track, and since he grew up in that environment, it comes to him to make a decision on whether or not to loan several million dollars to a horse breeder with visions of producing award-winning foals. The book is rife with charlatans, cheats, gamblers, murderers, and a few good people try...

Ryan Decker was a mercenary who specialized in retrieving high profile kidnapping victims and returning them to their wealthy and powerful families. But when a senator's daughter is kidnapped and her retrieval goes south, Decker finds himself locked away in prison, his family and the families of his entire team, murdered. When Decker is suddenly released from prison without explanation, he's thrust violently back into the world he'd left behind. The Russians are after him. Law enforcement is after him. And someone in power is hellbent on making sure that at least one of the groups succeed in wiping him off the face of the planet. The Rescue  kept me riveted. While I normally take a few days to read even the best of books (because, sleep), I finished The Rescue  within 24 hours of downloading it to my kindle. The action was fast. The conspiracies were believably complex. And most of all, I couldn't help but find myself rooting for Decker and the mysterious t...