Cool Book Of The Day

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Question: Who is the intended audience?
Answer: Mystery lovers, horse lovers, romance and suspense and lovers.

Q: What is the book about?
A: When the death of a racing stable’s prize horse and his trainer is blamed on the stable’s owner; his son, Adam Blakely, goes undercover convinced that the trainer’s partner, Maggie McGregor is the killer.

Determined to leave the tumultuous world of horse racing, Maggie returns home to try and find peace. When a handsome horse owner moves his horse into her father’s boarding stable and asks Maggie to train his horse, family finances dictate that Maggie accept–and that’s when the accidents begin.

Drowning in deception and lies, Maggie and Adam search for a killer and uncover an insurance scam so insidious, it threatens to rock a horse racing empire and bring the killer to their doorstep.

Q: Why are you the best person to write this book?
A: The seed of this story came from a scandal that happened in Northern Illinois about a decade ago. (The Horse Mob) Race horses and show horses were being murdered for insurance money, then the heiress, Helen Brach, disappeared. I had horses up in the same area and knew some of the people who were involved. In the Arms of the Enemy is an entirely different story, none of the characters even remotely resemble any of the people involved. This is a work of fiction. But, I thought the premise of the story needed to be told.

Q: How is this book different from other books on this topic?
A: The only books I know that come from this situation are non-fiction works. I’m sure there are mysteries that have similar themes, but I’m not familiar with them.

Q: Is there anything else we should know about this book?
A: This book is dedicated to those horse lost to man’s greed and inhumanity and to those humanitarians who make it their mission to serve and protect them.

This is my first published novel.

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Question: Who is the intended audience?
Answer: The Ezekiel Code – a metaphysical,  mystery,  adventure thriller – is intended for general audiences from teen to adult and especially those who enjoy the kind of stories told in books and movies like National Treasure, Indiana Jones, The DaVinci Code, The Celestine Prophecy, TheThe X-Files, and even The Matrix and The Thirteenth Floor. If you’re a fan of any of the above then this book’s for you!

Q: What is the book about?
A: Zeke Banyon, a Catholic seminary dropout, runs a large homeless shelter in Seattle’s old waterfront district. Angela Martin, an attractive young anthropology student, comes to work for him as his assistant. Together, they stumble upon a strange kind of code and a cryptic note tucked inside an old book that contains a little known story about an artifact known as the Lost Scroll of Ezekiel. They also discover the mystery involves an ancient prophecy about a catastrophic event that would end all life on our planet. Surprisingly, they also discover this prophecy has a curious tie to the Mayan calendar that will end on December 21, 2012. They find themselves in a race against time to figure out the code and what it means. What they don’t know, but soon discover, is that powerful people – a group of rogue Jesuit priests and agents of the secretive Illuminati, hell-bent on establishing a New World Order – are watching their every move. The action carries Banyon and Angela from Seattle to New York and then to a mysterious little village in the South of France and eventually to a point in the Antarctic Ocean where all the mysteries, trials, twists, and tribulations encountered over the course of many months come to a spectacular down-to-the-last-second climax and a dramatic conclusion.

Q: Why are you the best person to write this book?
A: The idea for the book came to me during a conversation with a friend in an all-night diner back around 1997. We were talking about how the first part of the book of Ezekiel in the Bible could be easily interpreted as an encounter with an extraterrestial craft, possibly from another dimension of time and space. My first thought was that the idea would make a great movie project for someone like Steven Spielberg. Then it occurred to me that I could write it as a novel. Having spent years studying and researching a wide range of esoteric subjects, as well as having written several feature articles on related subjects for FATE Magazine I certainly felt qualified to take on the project. But what really makes me the best person to write this book is that the plot device (the “code”, if you will) that drives the story from beginning to end is actually based on my real-life work exporing the possibility that the English alphabet is somehow encoded in such a way that it can be used as a system of gematria (a form of “sacred numerology”, for lack of a better term) as developed and practiced by the Greek and Hebrew priests and mystics of ancient times. Much of what appears in the book was actually derived from the well of data that my work has produced. So, really – now that I think about it – no one else could have written The Ezekiel Code. Apparently destiny chose me for the job.

Q: How is this book different from other books on this topic?
A: There are a few other novels out there that deal with the issue of 2012 and the end of the Mayan calendar. The Ezekiel Code differs from them considerably because of the unique plot device (the “code” mentioned above) that drives the story. It’s all drawn directly from my personal research and development of an English-based system of gematria. This whole idea will be new and unfamiliar to most readers but it’s also completely new and unfamiliar to the two heros in the story too! Believe me, they are totally clueless when their very normal lives are turned upside down by this mystery that suddenly confronts them. Their task is to figure it all out. So the reader can just sit back and go along for the ride because Banyon and Angela do all the work!

Q: Is there anything else we should know about this book?
A: “2012 is coming…The clock is ticking…The code must be deciphered…And only one man can save the planet…If he can just figure out how before it’s too late.”

“Entertaining and enlightening!”
– Jay Weidner, documentary producer and co-author of Mysteries of the Great Cross of Hendaye

“An amazing feat!”
– Peter A. Gersten, editor, PAG eNews

“Synchronicity at its best! A WOW of a read!”
– Ellen George, amazon.com power reviewer

“Exciting, awesome writing!”
– Tuesday Miles, host of Paranormal Talk Radio

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Question: Who is the intended audience?
Answer: I’ve written the book for mystery readers who enjoy amateur sleuth stories, which to me, are a little edgier than cozies, but not gritty enough to be considered hardboiled. Because my protagonist, Alex Bellamy, and his sidekick, Tristan, are twenty-eight years old, my books might also appeal to younger readers who want to read about sleuths closer to their age. I also write for anyone who’d be interested in reading about white-collar crime – in this case computer hacking – and Vancouver, British Columbia

Q: What is the book about?
A: In terms of plot, the book’s about Alex’s attempt to stop a computer hack from permanently encrypting a department store’s data. But the harder he tries, the more the hack ramps up the stakes. People die, buildings are torched, and no one is safe.

In terms of themes – and I really think theme is important – Alex is struggling with an ongoing quest to find his own place in the world. One of the subplots is his anxiety about going to a family reunion in Palm Springs for Christmas because he knows his parents and siblings regard him as the family failure. Adding to this, is an underlying theme about realizing that what you think you’ve wanted and have worked for a long time, might not be what you wanted at all.

Q: Why are you the best person to write this book?
A: Three reasons. One, I’ve worked in department stores and know a lot about how they function, and the nickel-and-dime approach to staying profitable. Two, I’ve spent most of my adult life exploring white-collar crime because it’s an area that both intrigues and appalls me. Three, I’ve lived in Vancouver and its suburbs since 1962, and know the area pretty well.

Q: How is this book different from other books on this topic?
A: To be honest, there aren’t many mysteries that focus on white-collar crime. I remember one good one about a hacking that takes place in Silicon Valley, but corporate crime in Vancouver isn’t something others appear to be writing about.

Q: Is there anything else we should know about this book?
A: This is my second Alex Bellamy mystery. The first one, Taxed to Death, takes place eighteen months earlier where Alex, employed by Revenue Canada Agency, discovers fraud on a field audit and the murder of his colleague and friend, Andy.

Pitch reporters with our up-to-date media databases:

Question: Who is the intended audience?
Answer: Adults and young adults, specifically young adult women.

Q: What is the book about?
A: Protection specialist Natasha Chamberlain thinks guarding an English rock star while she tours the Southern states should be easy and loads of fun but a bullet in her leg after the first concert changes her mind. Join Natasha and the dynamic dual Pit and Bigun as they chase a cyberstalker while trying to guard a rock star with a penchant for drugs, sex, shoplifting, and sweets.

Q: Why are you the best person to write this book?
A: It’s the third in my series; about an independent, contemporary woman trying to cope with a traditional world. It takes place in Knoxville, TN, my home town.

Q: How is this book different from other books on this topic?
A: My bodyguard experienced date rape and because of this seeks to be stronger, mentally and physically, so she will never be this vulnerable again. She also sees herself as protector of the innocent, animal and human, who cannot fend for themselves.

Q: Is there anything else we should know about this book?
A: Professional reviewers are comparing it to Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series, although my series is Southern. It features a Weimaraner, and proceeds from the sale of the book are donated to a local Weimaraner rescue as well as the local animal shelter. I try with each book to call attention to the abuse and neglect and unnecessary euthanization of animals across America, and encourage readers to adopt or rescue a pet.

Chasing Secrets – available 10/08!
The Bodyguard and the Rock Star – “I just want to know if I can nominate it for some kind of award.” – LAS Reviewer
The Bodyguard and the Show Dog – 2006 Reviewers’ Choice Award, DWAA Fiction Finalist
The Bodyguard - Best First in Series 2005
Chasing Demons – published in USA and Japan
Wayne’s Dead – Myshelf’s Top 10 Reads for 2002, published in USA and South Korea
Chasing Horses – Madcap Award for Best in Romantic Comedy