Nikki Duncan Ebook Giveaway, Interview and Review

New Book:

pub March 5  A Killing Touch
by Nikki Duncan 
"He's everything she craves. She's everything he dreads. "

"Sensory Ops, Book 4"

Journalist Lana Quinn has a way with hard-hitting news. The story she's uncovered has potential, but she needs the help of her best friend's FBI team. She's been rescued by them, worked with them, and partied with them, but convincing the second in command to believe her theory-that a killer's touch sets off a lethal allergic reaction-is a frustrating challenge.

Especially since he excites her, body and mind. He's a danger she shouldn't indulge.

Aidan Burgess is resistant to helping Lana, but not for the reason she thinks. She has a knack for landing herself in trouble, which means she needs protection. Protecting her means staying near her, a journalist, who like all journalists uses whatever-and whomever-it takes to get her story. It's a case he wants to refuse.

Especially since she lights a fire in his blood. She's a danger he can't afford.

As Lana follows up on lead after deadly lead, learning to trust and rely on each other becomes their only lifesaving hope. If their pride doesn't become their final pitfall.

Warning: This title contains a grudge-holding hero who gives "kiss my ass" new meaning, a heroine out to prove herself, and a danger that dares them to trust.(less)
ebook, 230 pages
Expected publication: March 5th 2013 
ISBN
1619214733 (ISBN13: 9781619214736)


Pre-Order the eBook.
Samhain | Amazon – Kindle | Barnes & Noble – Nook 

About the author

Nikki Duncan 

twitter page:  https://twitter.com/nduncanwriter
fb page:   https://www.facebook.com/nduncanwriter
website: http://nikkiduncan.com/

genre
Romance
Heart stopping puppy chases, childhood melodrama and the aborted hangings of innocent toys are all in a day’s work for Nikki Duncan. This athletic equestrian turned reluctant homemaker turned daring author, is drawn to the siren song of a fresh storyline.

Nikki plots murder and mayhem over breakfast, scandalous exposes at lunch and the sensual turn of phrase after dinner. Nevertheless, it is the pleasurable excitement and anticipation of unraveling her character’s motivation that drives her to write long past the witching hour.

The only anxiety and apprehension haunting this author comes from pondering the mysterious outcome of her latest twist.

My Review:

 The journalist Lana Quinn is hot on the trail of a new breakthrough but she needs the help of the team. They set up a meeting and it was Aiden Burgess that showed up. She explained to him her thoughts given the facts she had accumulated and they discussed it over lunch.
They had a fling, hot wild sex and it's on again. He will look into her theory but her ex, Nigel phones to say another body is being brought into the ME's office.
Hard with all the onslaught of names to figure out who's who til a few chapters in and then you realize there are teams of people working together.
Another female in the team wants everybody to be happy as a couple as she is and strives to get people hooked up.
The investigation goes on as she finds other clues and they all try to search for the common threads of all the deaths, the thing they have in common.
The others have all died due to an allergy reaction that someone is somehow injecting into them. Clues are coming in fast and she almost dies from being injected herself. Kind of like a warning to back off. Til Aiden finds out who her father is he's glad he called him.
More clues and more deaths and the number of suspects is dwindling...
Love the plants and what they mean to the human body..

At the sites where I posted my review I did give the book 5 stars out of 5. I love learning new things, especially the plants in this one. Subject is interesting as long as there's not a lot of blood and gore. This kind of reminded me of revolution where you need to survive on your skills.

My Interview

1. How did this book come about? Where did the idea come from?

From the moment I put Aidan and Lana on the pages of the first book I knew they would have their own stories. Then they were on those pages together and I knew their story would be together. It just clicked and felt right.

Awhile later I wrote a short story with them - A Killing Cupid - more on that in a bit. That story cemented the belief that they would end up together.

So, along came A Killing Touch. Where did I get the story idea? Well, see, I really enjoy watching the TV show Fringe with my hubby. We were watching it one night and the case they were working was one where they guy had a kind of cancer I believe and the only way he could survive was to touch someone and pass it on to them. Moments after he touched them they would break out with this hideous "rash" that covered their body.

It was a cool idea that had me playing with different scenarios.

2. Did you have to do a lot of research into plants and their effects on the human body?

That is actually the only thing I researched for accuracy - the rest I let go with the "paranormal-esque" feeling. I wanted the plant angles to be accurate. Well, except the hybrid that's mentioned. That's a creation of my own. Okay, so there was a little research and a little imagination. lol

3. Valentine Cupid, is this another book you've written? If not, would you consider filling in the blanks or writing one that has a few clues in The Killing Touch?

Ah, the Valentine Cupid that's mentioned in A Killing Touch - yes that is another story I've written. It was called A Killing Cupid and was available a couple years ago as a free short on my website. I pulled it to expand it a little and re-edit and then it's my intention to re-release it digitally in the next week. I had too much fun watching Lana and Aidan go at each other in that one to keep it down forever. It will have the same title.

BONUS: A KILLING CUPID REVIEW

 

 A Killing Cupid by Nikki Duncan
She is the newspaper reporter with a column and she writes the annual Valentine warning to single females. The serial killer she was sure was going to attack again this year.
She had gotten wired from FBI Agent Aidan Burgess in hopes to get the guy this year.
He would kill a woman 6 days up to Valentines day and strike that day also. It had been going on for 3 years.
She knew Cupid was in her house and she knew she could back out, give up at anytime by saying the codeword.
The FBI was just next door. She needs to solve this mystery and get closure for all the dead women and their families.
 

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Restrike Book Review

Restrike by Reba White Williams
I wanted to read this book because there is an art forgery and I had recently watched a movie about something similar.
Cousins  Coleman Greene runs the art magazine. Dinah run the print gallery, both in Greenwich Village, NY.
Coleman has a mystery going on with a magazine on the west coast always printing a week prior to her magazine the same articles and she asks others to help her solve who it could be.
Dinah has her own mystery also-how did the man who's now dead get his hands on the 'skating girl' and the next day it sold for mucho bucks.
Everything that is made, from clothes to shoes to food and hotels has a label, a designer label and the two of them know all the names. It gets to be a bit much at times as I'm just a country girl and can't be swayed by a label.
Love all the detailed descriptions and although there are many characters in the book it's easy to keep them straight.
The book also follows Rachel Ransomme who is overseas and is heavily into art as she's very well trained to spot a fraud.
Murders, places being bugged, forgeries and hidden funds are just a few things going on in this action packed book.
Grand finale is at the end where all the pieces come together and family from the past make an appearance.
Love that this will be part of a series of books using some of the same characters, can't wait to see what next they will uncover.

The Ripple in Space-Time Blog Tour

The Ripple in Space-Time

BRIEF DESCRIPTION: When the huge lunar Ultra Energy Laboratory is destroyed by a mysterious blast, Inspector Ryo Trop of the Free City Inquisitor's Office is called in to sort out who is responsible for the disaster. Early reports imply that rogue moon miners are to blame but Ryo quickly discovers that a far more complex and sinister scheme is afoot. With the help of a promising young Liaison Agent and a faltering Grad student, Ryo searches for clues and culprits in the corrupt and moldering feudal fiefdoms of the Warlords that dominate human affairs in 2445. Ryo’s longtime friend, Biology Professor turned
spy Malcolm Evans, suggests that the wave of space piracy that has recently vexed the Solar System could be connected to the obliteration of the lunar lab. But why would reckless and marauding space raiders have an interest in a research facility?

My Review:

S.F. Chapman's The Ripple in Space-Time
 Story is about how a scientist is kidnapped, along with others and taken far away. The pirates plan for her especially is to work and create some elements that will aid them.
Her son Lev has received her daily message and knows something is not right and contacts the authorities and gets together with Ryo who heads up the investigation. They can't figure out who
took the professor and they soon learn with Lev's help and one of the many satellites, who they are. There are many people involved that I had a hard time keeping track of as some are only mentioned a few times, others many times over.
They gain clues and track down others who help them figure out what their next step should be. This all occurs in the future.
To keep her sanity she quotes Shakespeare plays she has learned and seen over the years.
There are many instances of quoting others who are very famous in their field of expertise that make the whole story believable. I enjoyed the story although I rarely read sci fi books.
There are other villains with dangerous information and weapons that also want to rule everybody...
Like all the scientific information that explains just what the ripple is. love how the book got it's title.
Also love the list of characters and the vessels, makes it a lot easier to understand right off the launch pad.

http://jbarrett5.blogspot.com/2012/06/imheretohelpbookcover1.html  Location on this site for SF Chapman's bio, interview questions and other books, and web sites.


Tour Runs: January - February, 2013
Tour Details: http://www.jkscommunications.com/virtual-book-tour-for-s-f-chapmans-the-ripple-in-space-time/
Availability: eBook

Cover of Snow Blog Tour Bio Review Interview Giveaway

Waking up one wintry morning in her old farmhouse nestled in the Adirondack Mountains of New York, Nora Hamilton instantly knows that something is wrong. When her fog of sleep clears, she finds her world is suddenly, irretrievably shattered: Her husband, Brendan,  has committed suicide.

The first few hours following Nora’s devastating discovery pass for her in a blur of numbness and disbelief. Then, a disturbing awareness slowly settles in: Brendan left no note and gave no indication that he was contemplating taking his own life. Why would a rock-solid police officer with unwavering affection for his wife, job, and quaint hometown suddenly choose to end it all? Having spent a lifetime avoiding hard truths, Nora must now start facing them.

Unraveling her late husband’s final days, Nora searches for answers—but meets with bewildering resistance from Brendan’s best friend and partner, his fellow police officers, and his brittle mother. It quickly becomes clear to Nora that she is asking questions no one wants to answer. For beneath the soft cover of snow lies a powerful conspiracy that will stop at nothing to keep its presence unknown . . . and its darkest secrets hidden.

 

BOOK DETAILS

Hardcover: $26, eBook: $12.99

ISBN: 978-978-0-345-53421-7

Adult Fiction / Thriller, 336 pages

Ballantine / Random House

Jan. 15, 2013

 Author Bio:

Jenny Milchman

Author Biography

Jenny Milchman is a suspense writer from New Jersey. Her debut novel, COVER OF SNOW, is forthcoming from Ballantine in January 2013 and is available for pre-order now. Her short story The Closet was published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine in November 2012. Another short story, The Very Old Man, has been an Amazon bestseller, and the short work Black Sun on Tupper Lake appears in the anthology ADIRONDACK MYSTERIES II.

Jenny is the Chair of the International Thriller Writers’ Debut Authors Program. She is also the founder of Take Your Child to a Bookstore Day, which was celebrated last year in all 50 states and four foreign countries by 350-and-growing bookstores.

Jenny hosts the Made It Moments forum on her blog, which has featured more than 250 international bestsellers, Edgar winners and independent authors. She co-hosts the literary series Writing Matters, which attracts guests coast-to-coast and has received national media attention, and loves to teach and speak about writing and publishing for New York Writers Workshop, Arts By The People, and WomenWhoWrite.

Praise for Jenny Milchman and

Cover of Snow

“Everything a great suspense novel should be—tense, emotional, mysterious and satisfying. Let’s hope this is the start of a long career.”

–Lee Child

“COVER OF SNOW is a luge ride of action and atmosphere, a terrifically suspenseful read. A suicide in a creepy town, clogged with snow and secrets, starts a young widow on a perilous hunt. Soon we’re careening along with her as she chases clues and as the full horror of what really happened to her husband is revealed. Reading COVER OF SNOW feels like racing across a frozen lake. Heart-pounding, exhilarating, frightening.”

–Louise Penny

“Milchman’s intricately plotted and aptly titled COVER OF SNOW is layered with suspense, sorrow, and a strong sense of place and character.”

–Linwood Barclay

“Absorbing from start to finish: Jenny Milchman writes a deeply felt and suspenseful story of a woman whose life is upended by a death and a dark secret. While perceptively reflecting on community and our connections to one another, COVER OF SNOW is also an insightful look at the intimacies and secrets of marriage.”

–Nancy Pickard

“COVER OF SNOW is a darkly atmospheric first novel that challenges all sorts of romantic notions we might harbor about small towns and the people we think we can trust. Luckily, heroine Nora Hamilton—and writer Jenny Milchman—have the skill and fortitude to lead readers through a suspenseful story of switchbacks and surprises. A mystery that will draw in fans of darker fare as well, reminiscent of Margaret Maron’s work, which is about the highest praise I can bestow.”

–Laura Lippman

“In her debut outing, Jenny Milchman has succeeded in a way many veteran writers can only envy.  COVER OF SNOW is a tightly plotted, wonderfully unpredictable, and immensely satisfying novel.  All the elements—character, setting, pace, language—are pitch perfect.  Believe me, it doesn’t get any better than this.”

–William Kent Krueger

“COVER OF SNOW is what every reader wants—a terrific story, beautifully told. Heartbreaking, sinister, compelling and completely original. I love this book.”

–Hank Phillippi Ryan

“Jenny Milchman's expertly crafted, dark and smoothly suspenseful page-turner slowly reveals the layers of terrifying secrets hidden in a small Adirondack town under cover of snow. I only wish I had written this novel! Watch for this stellar debut on the Best First Novel lists.”

–Julia Spencer-Fleming

“Jenny Milchman proves she is a master of psychological suspense in this page-turner of a novel. With its compelling protagonist and haunting setting, COVER OF SNOW makes for an outstanding series debut.”

–Stefanie Pintoff

MY REVIEW: 

The Cover of Snow by Jenny Milchman
Love where this one takes place, in snow country. After she wakes up and goes searching for her policeman husband and finds he's committed suicide she is beside herself.
Things don't fit in as to why he did it. He's had many secrets over the years that he never told her about and she finds out over time. Every little clue she uncovers leads to
answers to some but opens more possibilities.
Never imagined all she went through to piece this puzzle all together.
And just when I thought it was over, it's brought to more conclusion that I didn't see coming.
Like that there are not many people involved to keep up to date with but just enough to make this a worthwhile story.
Beauty of the snow and locale I really appreciated. Love how she hooks up with some to help her gain knowledge of past events and they in turn were using her to gain knowledge of the present events.

Interview Questions:

·         What other genres would you consider writing? I don’t know if I could write another genre. I feel like crime fiction is one of the richest ones there is, with a literary history that includes the likes of Dostoevsky and Edgar Allan Poe, and which covers topics as deep and dark as the human heart. Getting to write in this genre is one of the greatest privileges of my life. My publisher feels that Cover of Snow has elements of women’s fiction in it as well, and other people have identified threads—horror, occasionally literary. I don’t know if that is all there—although it would be nice if they were—but for me the books that I love to write and read boil down to just plain good stories. If I can be transported for a few days by a book, I am happy. And if I can do that for someone else, it would be an honor. I think we all need to be transported sometimes.

·         Do you have other novels just waiting to be published? I wrote seven novels before Cover of Snow. So my first published novel is actually my eighth written. (It took me a while to learn!) I would say that six of those are not ready to be published, although perhaps a few are worth revisiting someday. But my seventh novel, about a woman who runs into trouble while on a family vacation, nearly sold before Cover of Snow did. And I dearly hope it is published one day.

·         Did you physically go to the town the book is located or did you do research work on the net? Actually, neither. Wedeskyull is a fictional town so I didn’t have to go any farther than my own mind while I was writing. My parents have some property deep in the Adirondacks, which they’ve never been able to afford to develop. We’ve camped on it though, and it’s lived a long time in my parents’ hearts as a dream. I guess it got into my blood somehow, and became a region I never wanted to leave.

·         Where did you get the idea to write this book? The idea behind Cover of Snow was a question that grabbed me around the throat and just wouldn’t let go. What would make a good man do the worst thing he possibly could to his wife? Of course, first I had to figure out what that ‘worst thing’ would be, but once I did, I had a premise and an opening scene that persisted over many years and about twenty-two drafts. Another way to describe Cover of Snow is with this log line: When her police detective husband commits suicide in the middle of a frozen Adirondack winter, Nora Hamilton must lay bare the secrets a town has always kept...as well as her own.

·         Love your site and the pictures of your trips. What state/national park have you wanted to visit that you have not yet? Thank you! I would love to visit Arizona. Actually, the whole southwest, including most of California, is a part we haven’t gotten to go to yet. There are some great bookstores in Arizona, Texas, and California that I dream of visiting!

·         What authors do you read? The biggest influence on me as a writer is Stephen King. I started reading him as a child, and still get whole new things from his books today. Crime fiction writers starting with Edgar Allan Poe and Shirley Jackson were some of my favorites. Contemporary authors are too many to mention, and I always fear leaving someone out, but I love what reviewer Oline Cogdill calls “family thrillers,” about the intersection between the domestic and the disaster.

·         Hobbies: walking, photography, knitting, baking? Sigh. I wish I could say I do any of those. Well, sometimes I bake. I’d like my kids to have memories of mom and hearth, but to a certain extent, life has been about writing and reading for me for a very long time. I hope that I’m teaching my children something about passion—finding your dream and following it with all your heart. Because there’s been very little time for anything else, once everyone is fed and brushed and, of course, read to!

Jenny Milchman is a suspense novelist from New Jersey whose short stories have appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Adirondack Mysteries II, and in an e-published volume called Lunch Reads. Jenny is the founder of Take Your Child to a Bookstore Day, and the chair of International Thriller Writers’ Debut Authors Program. Her first novel, Cover of Snow, is published by Ballantine.

Jenny can be reached at http://jennymilchman.com and she blogs at http://suspenseyourdisbelief.com

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