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Posts Tagged ‘thriller’

Light of Day

The Louisiana Crime Syndicate. Software that threatens national security. A vengeful hitman. Jack Patterson is faced with a case determined to see him lose—either in court or his life—in the sixth novel from former Associate Attorney General of the United States and award-winning author, Webb Hubbell.

Every now and then, more frequently than he cares to admit, antitrust lawyer Jack Patterson gets involved in a case more complicated, more dangerous, than just defending big companies who’ve run afoul. He doesn’t know it yet, but he’s about to take on a new client: the grandson of the head of the Louisiana crime syndicate in New Orleans.

Young David is a computer genius who has invented a software program considered to be a serious threat to both national security and most major technology companies. So when the FBI throws him in the DC jail without bond, and a conglomerate of tech companies sue him in Federal Court, Jack figures he can at least get the young man out on bail and be home for the weekend.

He couldn’t be more wrong. Before he can even meet with the client, his bodyguard is drugged and Jack is left for dead in the swamps of Cajun country. He must make his way back to DC, wage a battle in court, and dodge a hitman who lurks around every corner. Can Jack save his client and overcome those who will go to any length to prevent the software from seeing the light of day?

Author: Webb Hubbell

Paperback: $17.95 (ISBN: 9780825309403)

Ebook: $14.99 (ISBN: 9780825308222)

FICTION / Thrillers / Political

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Back to School Time: Coping with COVID

Tuesday, December 20th, 2022

Dr. Janet Gilsdorf, author of June release Fever, provides an informative and reassuring outlook on the pandemic for parents with children returning to the classroom.

Epidemics of nasty new germs are upon us; COVID, monkeypox, and hepatitis in children from adenovirus are the latest. In addition, old germs have raised their ugly heads (or will soon): polio, measles, and maybe the causes of other vaccine-preventable diseases. That’s a lot of worry for parents, especially since it’s back-to-school season and children will begin doing what they do so well: sharing with others—their ideas, their food, their dreams, and their infections.

My novel Fever also deals with the outbreak of an infectious disease in young children. That one actually happened in Brazil in 1984, and Fever offers a fictional depiction of the outbreak and the efforts of Dr. Sidonie Royal, a young physician-scientist, to figure it all out.

The outbreak in Brazil, called Brazilian Purpuric Fever or BPF, differed in many important ways from the current outbreaks. With BPF, the epidemic eventually burned out. While that definitely won’t happen with COVID, it may, in odd ways, happen with adenovirus-associated hepatitis and monkeypox. With BPF, all the affected children died while most children affected with modern epidemic microbes survive. The most important difference between BPF and COVID is that we have the means to prevent transmission of the COVID virus to children, and to treat serious infections if they occur.

The fact that such valuable tools are available to us, less than three years after the first appearance of SARS CoV 2 (the virus that causes COVID) is a miracle. Not a Biblical-type miracle, but the miracle of modern science and the scientists who developed the technology for RNA-vaccines over twenty years ago and then applied it to COVID when it emerged, and who built upon previous treatments to develop new anti-viral drugs and anti-inflammatory agents. We are so very fortunate this time. The next epidemic or global pandemic may not work this way.

So, as children return to school, we can be reassured that their COVID vaccinations will go a long way in protecting them from getting infected with SARS CoV 2. In addition, as that wily virus evolves and changes, we have additional tools to protect kids in school from newer, more transmissible SARS CoV2 variants. Children are very adaptable, and they manage masks much, much better than many adults do. Enlightened schools have updated their HVAC systems to maximize air-exchange in classrooms, thus diluting any viruses that find their way in. Newer vaccines are on the horizon.

Just as Dr. Sidonie Royal worked day and night to understand the BPF outbreak in Fever, physicians and scientists around the world are working day and night to more completely understand COVID and other contemporary epidemics, so that medical science can protect us and our precious children even better. We are indeed fortunate.

Order “Fever” Today!

Books That Should be Trending

Wednesday, September 21st, 2022

New blogger coming at you under the pen name, The BEAUpire Diaries. I am one of three interns at Beaufort Books this Fall 2022 and I will be starting my first blog post off by talking about what’s trending, what I’m loving after reading what’s been trending, and what should have gotten more attention as trends have passed along. 

Every few years, the book community seems to change what genre/theme of books is trending amongst readers. There is no predicting what those books will be, but once they’re trending they are suddenly everywhere until we’re all sick of them and onto the next “new” thing. In the early 2000s, vampire/supernatural books were the thing with Twilight, The Vampire Diaries, The Vampire Academy, Vampire Kisses, Eighth Grade Bites, and so many more. It then trends moved on to dystopian novels for a bit with some iconic movies following like The Hunger Games, Divergent, and The Maze Runner. As much as we would love to bring all those books back for the sake of nostalgia, they are (for now) meant to be left in the past. 

What I am really seeing as a trend in books nowadays is the cheesy rom-com with bright and colorful cartoon covers that all kind of look the same. However, I like others have yet again fallen for the trends and am loving and buying all the romance. 

Below you’ll find all books that I have loved reading, featuring a little bit of all the trendiest genres/themes — a few have done pretty well in the market, and there are some that deserve to do even better, but enjoy.

Lacie’s Secrets by Teresa Sorkin and Tullan Holmqvist

In no way am I biased by adding this book to what I’m loving, but one of our books, Lacie’s Secrets is one of the best spooky fall time reads to have on hand during these upcoming months of gloom. For readers and fans of Big Little Lies and The Haunting of Hill House, Lacie’s Secrets is a psychological thriller that takes place on the coast of Maine, when Kate’s sister disappears 18 years ago, and in the present time, her mother suddenly dies inheriting their estate motivating Kate’s return and the unraveling of secrets begins.

Buy Lacie’s Secrets

Alienated by Melissa Landers

Somewhere after the boom of dystopian titles, the sci-fi genre attempted to be the next big trend. The 5th Wave did well, but the others that followed lagged behind. Alienated by Melissa Landers was a book that I loved years ago romanticizing life living alongside aliens when Cara Sweeney falls for the first alien exchange student, Aelyx.

Buy Alienated

Bad Romeo by Leisa Rayven

With all of the swoon-worthy, new adult romance going around, I am surprised that this book hasn’t received its moment in the spotlight yet. This was the first adult romance book that I had read back when I was a senior in high school (six years ago) and I was so obsessed with it that I had my own fan cast. Bad Romeo follows the good girl meets bad boy trope when Cassie Taylor meets Ethan Holt while in acting school and they are cast to play Romeo and Juliet together.

Buy Bad Romeo

Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood

One of the most recently published and trending books that I wanted to feature is Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood. This is also an example of one of those iconic cartoon romance covers, but I guess they beat the romance covers that have shirtless, hairy men. Ali Hazelwood is well-known for her book, The Love Hypothesis, and a few others. I have yet to read this book, but I did buy it when it came out to add to my neverending TBR stack. Love on the Brain follows the enemies-to-lovers trope when Bee is offered her dream position with NASA the only setback being she is partnered with Levi Ward who has made it clear in grad school his feelings toward Bee.

Buy Love on the Brain

I am looking forward to continuing to work with Beaufort Books for the Fall 2022 term and writing more wildly interesting and creative blogs. The romance genre has always been a favorite of mine, so the blogs may lean heavier that way, but nevertheless. 

Sincerely,

The BEAUpire Diaries

Red Chaos

The Arctic ice is melting, the waters are warming, and Russian President Nicolai Gorshkov is one step closer to monopolizing the oil industry and funding his expansionism plans past Ukraine and Latvia. Russian-backed attacks have shut down the Suez Canal and other key shipping routes, making it nearly impossible for the West and the Middle East to transport oil.

With nothing less than oil futures and the global economy at stake, one man slips out of the shadows to stop Gorshkov’s maniacal plans: Dan Reilly, a freelance State Department and CIA consultant. In his attempts, Reilly is drawn into a web of intrigue twelve years in the making, involving the current American president, a United States senator, a Chinese businessman, and the death of a young girl. How these seemingly unrelated elements have a profound impact on Russia’s far-reaching plans is what makes Red Chaos a thriller to be read like breaking news.
Red Chaos is the third novel in the acclaimed Red Hotel series by thriller masters Ed Fuller and Gary Grossman who America’s political and intelligence insiders have noted, “might as well sit on the National Security Council.”

About: Gary Grossman, Ed Fuller

Hardcover: $24.95 (ISBN: 9780825309878)

E-book $9.99 (ISBN: 9780825308666)

Fiction/Thrillers/Terrorism

500 pages

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Lacie’s Secrets

Reminiscent of classic suspense novels, Lacie’s Secrets is the latest psychological thriller from writing duo Teresa Sorkin and Tullan Holmqvist, authors of the award-winning thriller The Woman in the Park.

For the past 18 years, Kate Williams has tried to forget that fateful summer, the summer that ripped her family apart. But when her estranged mother unexpectedly dies and Kate inherits Villa Magda, the family’s summer home on the Maine coast, Kate decides that enough time has passed. With the help of her husband, her son, and their close group of friends, Kate decides to face the past and go back to Villa Magda for one last trip.

But the sprawling, ocean-side house isn’t as picturesque as it seems, and as the week goes on, inexplicable incidents and suspicious visitors begin to torment Kate, threatening to expose her deepest secrets. The closer Kate gets to learning the truth about what happened that summer, the faster she realizes the house might be holding more secrets than she can handle.

As tensions run high and friendships unravel, Kate starts to question her decision to return to Villa Magda. But when tragedy strikes and a body is found floating in the pool, questions arise that demand answers: What really happened at Villa Magda 18 years ago? How much did Kate know? And how can the house be stopped from claiming its next victim?

Set on a remote and gorgeous Maine estate, Lacie’s Secrets is an exciting and cinematic psychological thriller with surprising twists that will keep the reader guessing until the very last page.

About: Teresa Sorkin, Tullan Holmqvist

Hardcover: $24.95 (ISBN: 9780825309793)

E-book: $9.95 (ISBN: 9780825308581)

Fiction/Thrillers/Psychological

320 pages

Lacie’s Secrets – Discussion QuestionsDownload

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RED DECEPTION News!

Wednesday, June 30th, 2021

Gary Grossman and Ed Fuller Interviewed on WFSB Channel 3’s Better Connecticut

To watch the five-minute-long interview, click here.

To learn more about Red Deception, click here.

To learn more about Gary Grossman and Ed Fuller, click here and here, respectively.

RED DECEPTION News!

Thursday, June 24th, 2021

Red Deception, Geopolitical Thriller Released

Blending the experiences of his long career in the international tourism industry, having retired after 40 years with Marriott Lodging, the last 22 as President & Managing Director of Marriott International, and his first-hand knowledge of global politics, Ed Fuller partnered with acclaimed author, Gary Grossman to captivate readers once again as they draw a chilling portrait of the fragile fault lines in Europe and the players poised to seize power.

When terrorists bomb bridges across the country and threaten the Hoover Dam, the vulnerability of America’s infrastructure becomes a matter of national security. Once again, Dan Reilly, a former U.S. Army intelligence officer, predicted the attacks in a secret State Department report written years earlier – a virtual blueprint for disaster, that was somehow leaked and is now in the hands of foreign operatives.

Washington is distracted by domestic crises as Russian President Nicolai Gorshkov sends troops to the borders of Ukraine and Latvia, ready to reclaim what he feels is Russia’s rightful territory. Tensions in Europe threaten to boil over as a besieged American president balances multiple crises that threaten to upend the geopolitical order. With the U.S. at the mercy of an egomaniacal leader, and reporters and covert agents on his tail, Reilly may be the one man who can connect the dots before an even bigger catastrophe unfolds.

To read the full review, click here.

To learn more about Red Deception, click here.

To learn more about Ed Fuller and Gary Grossman, click here and here, respectively.

RED DECEPTION News!

Wednesday, June 16th, 2021

Fast-Paced Thriller “Red Deception” Paints Chilling Portrait of Our Times

What would happen if all the major bridges in the U.S. were bombed, all commerce came to a dead stop, and the nation’s natural resources, such as our water supply, were cut off?

The importance of protecting America’s critical infrastructure has rarely been depicted so powerfully as in Ed Fuller and Gary Grossman’s new fast-paced thriller, “Red Deception,” the follow-up to 2019’s Red Hotel.” And it’s a timely read, considering President Biden’s current emphasis on improving the nation’s infrastructure.

Fuller and Grossman’s novel posits a scenario that could potentially destroy much of it.

Blending career insight with first-hand knowledge of global politics, Fuller, a global executive and crisis management expert, and Grossman, a TV producer and author, have once again drawn a chilling portrait of the fragile fault lines in Europe and the players poised to seize power.

To read the full review, click here.

To learn more about Red Deception, click here.

To learn more about Ed Fuller and Gary Grossman, click here and here, respectively.

RED DECEPTION News!

Monday, April 26th, 2021

A great review from Publishers Weekly is in for Red Deception

“Grossman and Fuller’s exciting sequel to 2019’s Red Hotel finds Dan Reilly, the president of the International Kensington Royal Hotel Corporation, in a taxi during morning rush hour in Washington, D.C., when two stalled trucks loaded with explosives blow a huge hole in a bridge over the Potomac, killing nearly 100. Simultaneous bombings occur in New York City and St. Louis. Meanwhile, Russia is massing troops on the borders of Ukraine and Latvia, preparing to invade. A former army intelligence officer who later worked in the State Department, Reilly is soon up to his neck investigating these incidents, because at the State Department he prepared a report detailing possible terrorist attacks on America’s infrastructure that closely match the three attacks. Meanwhile, he becomes involved with a woman but remains strangely unaware that she clearly has hidden agenda. The authors keep the multiple plot lines moving swiftly ahead with rapid scene shifts, and the behind-the-scenes look at the high-end international hotel world lends authenticity. Reilly is a believable, able hero, though many thriller readers will shake their heads at his romantic naiveté. Hopefully, he’ll be back soon for more adventures.”

To see the review on Publishers Weekly, click here.

To learn more about Red Deception, click here.

To learn more about Gary Grossman and Ed Fuller, click here and here, respectively.

Red Deception

“The authors keep the multiple plot lines moving swiftly ahead with rapid scene shifts, and the behind-the-scenes look at the high-end international hotel world lends authenticity.” – Publishers Weekly

Intelligence experts and thriller authors concur: Red Deception is “A page-turner by authors who might as well sit on the National Security Council.”

When terrorists bomb bridges across the country and threaten the Hoover Dam, the vulnerability of America’s infrastructure becomes a matter of national security. But Dan Reilly, a former Army intelligence officer, predicted the attacks in a secret State Department report written years earlier—a virtual blueprint for disaster, somehow leaked and now in the hands of foreign operatives.

With Washington distracted by domestic crises, Russian President Nicolai Gorshkov sends troops to the borders of Ukraine and Latvia, ready to reclaim what he feels is Russia’s rightful territory. Tensions in Europe threaten to boil over as a besieged American president balances multiple crises that threaten to upend the geopolitical order. With the US at the mercy of an egomaniacal leader, and reporters and covert agents on his tail, Reilly may be the one man who can connect the dots before an even bigger catastrophe unfolds. Red Deception is the second book in the Red Hotel series.

About: Gary Grossman, Ed Fuller

Hardcover: $26.95 (ISBN: 9780825309465)

E-book $9.99 (ISBN: 9780825308505)

Fiction/Thrillers/Espionage

532 pages

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THE EAST END News!

Wednesday, September 25th, 2019

FEATURE: WEBB HUBBELL, AUTHOR OF THE EAST END, IS FEATURED ON THE BECKER GROUP C-SUITE REPORTS PODCAST

This episode features Webb Hubbell. Webb is the author of the new book “The East End (A Jack Patterson Thriller Book 5)”. He is a nationally recognized award winning author and popular lecturer on the U.S. criminal justice system, politics and government, writing a novel, and life lessons from sports. He also writes, speaks, and advocates publicly on social issues including the inhumanity of solitary confinement, racial bias in the criminal justice system, the collateral consequences of a criminal conviction, the marijuana legalization movement, and the miracle of organ transplants.

Webb has held executive positions in government and industry, including Associate Attorney General of the United States, Chief Justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court, Mayor of Little Rock, Ark., Managing Partner of the Rose Law Firm, and Executive and Chief Counsel for a large Washington-based commercial insurance company.

To listen to the podcast, click here.

To find out more about The East End by Webb Hubbell, click here.

THE WOMAN IN THE PARK News!

Thursday, August 29th, 2019

10 Chilling end of summer thrillers

It’s starting to get dark at 8 o’clock now, instead of 9. Any activities after 5 pm are going to start requiring a jacket. Oh, and pumpkin everything is officially back on the market. You know what this means: fall is approaching. With the end of summer quickly approaching, here are my top ten end of summer thrillers to devour before the sweaters and jeans start to circulate your wardrobe.

The Woman in the Park by Teresa Sorkin and Tullan Holmqvist

There was no holding back when it comes to the writing power in this novel. It’s psychologically brilliant, cinematically stunning and features a powerful heroine and pacing that will make your heart race. Sarah Rock has it rough. Her therapist is clinical and emotionless, her husband and his mistress are the worst and her kids show her no respect. This could be a love story when she meets a really handsome man in the park and she is immediately crushing on him… but this is no love story. When a woman goes missing in the same park, Sarah is the prime suspect. Her mystery man is nowhere to be found, her husband doesn’t have her back, and her therapist is working with the police. This one is relatively short at under 250 pages but jam-packed with suspense, reveals and an ending that will blow your mind. Pack your SPF for this beach read – I say that because when I read this one, I was so wrapped up in the story that I suffered a major sunburn.

To read the rest of the article, click here.

To learn more about The Woman in the Park, click here.

THE WOMAN IN THE PARK News!

Thursday, August 29th, 2019

ARC / BOOK REVIEW: THE WOMAN IN THE PARK

“It’s books like this that make me wanna start a book club page so we can discuss, Reader! The Woman In The Park is a debut novel that had me captivated at the start. The Prologue drew me in so effortlessly.

In the beginning, I felt a little sorry and sad for Sarah. She believes her husband is having an affair. Her kids are in boarding school. She religiously goes to therapy (nothing wrong with that). And she has A LOT of time on her hands. Life is going on without her and you feel it too.

When Sarah meets Lawrence, I was a bit surprised she begins an affair with the ever-so mysterious man (even though the synopsis clearly states she has a lover). I didn’t think Sarah really had it in her to cheat on her husband. She just seems like a fragile bird.

However, when the facts and the details of this thriller began to NOT add up (when as a reader you get this sense that something is just not right), I teetered between feeling a bit sad for Sarah who is going thru what appears to be a midlife crisis to being a bit weary and cautious as she doesn’t seem to be all there mentally. And I LOVE it. I love how I was forced to think of Sarah as both the victim and the potential perpetrator.”

To read the rest of this review, click here.

To learn more about The Woman in the Park, click here.

THE WOMAN IN THE PARK News!

Thursday, August 29th, 2019

BOOK Q&As WITH DEBORAH KALB

Teresa Sorkin and Tullan Holmqvist are the authors of the new novel The Woman in the Park. Sorkin is a television producer and Holmqvist is a writer, investigator, and actor.

Q:  How did you come up with the idea for The Woman in the Park, and for your character Sarah?

A: We put ourselves in the mind of a woman who really does not know what is real and what is not and imagined an elegant New York woman who meets a mysterious man in Central Park and gets dragged into something darker.

We both have children and have spent many hours in the park with them and the story grew out of that common experience and observing people. We are both storytellers and observers, Teresa as a writer and producer of TV and film and Tullan as a private investigator and writer with a background in acting, and we both love a character-driven approach to stories.

To read the rest of the Q&A, click here.

For more information about The Woman in the Park, click here.

THE WOMAN IN THE PARK News!

Tuesday, July 9th, 2019

Interview: “Romantic Desperation and Erotomania in The Woman in the Park“

Rebecca Coffey of Psychology Today interviews Teresa Sorkin and Tullan Holmqvist!

Q: The Woman in the Park is full of the kind of murder mystery surprises that were everywhere in Gone Girl. And, like Gone Girl, your book is about women and madness. As you wrote, did you keep in mind great mad heroines from literary history like Medea, Anna Karenina, and Ophelia? (“Frailty, thy name is woman,” Hamlet said.) And of course the madness of The Woman in the Park hearkens to the murderous insanity of Thérèse in Thérèse Raquin, which is the nineteenth century novel that your book’s protagonist is reading. Each chapter of your novel begins with an excerpt from the nineteenth century one. Tell me whether great literature about madness and women inspired you. And if so, how did it?

A: One of the books that we two authors had in common as favorites was Thérèse Raquin. The character was so misunderstood and mad. She evoked a feeling of loneliness that we wanted to portray. Many great works of literature were about madness and women.

Teresa Sorkin: One of my favorite characters of all time, Jay Gatsby, exhibited moments of delusion. He had delusion of grandeur and some erotomania towards Daisy. She was a bit mad, as well. As Lawrence says in the novel. “Isn’t all passion mixed with madness at times?” Tullan and I feel that is true in life as well as in literature.

Tullan Holmqvist: I’ve been inspired by many “mad” characters in literature, theater and film. In particular, Shakespeare, the Greek dramatists, and Ingmar Bergman have made strong impressions on me. I grew up discussing and reading a lot about the human psyche and the nature of human beings with my mother, who was a psychotherapist. She surrounded us with interesting thinkers, artists, and writers. I’ve always been interested in why humans behave the way they do. I ask a lot of questions and am interested in both the light and dark side of life.

To read the full interview, click here.

To learn more about The Woman in the Park, click here.