Category Archives: BOOKS

Against All Enemies Blitz

Against All Enemies banner

Against All Enemies cover

 Military Fiction

Date Published: October 13, 2023

Publisher: Acorn Publishing

When the People’s Republic of China unleashes a devastating attack on
the United States, newly appointed Naval Commander Bill Watkins and his crew
are suddenly alone, deep in the enemy’s backyard, and unable to
communicate with naval or national leadership.

At home in Washington, the president is detached from reality. Survivors of
his cabinet contend with military leadership for control, some to save the
nation they serve, others in pursuit of personal power. As America becomes
alienated from her allies, Russia begins a campaign that creates heightened
fears of nuclear annihilation.

Bill must navigate a political minefield to find friends among
China’s neighbors, while undertaking a role that demands he take
unimaginable risks and wrestles with the question: What losses are
acceptable in order to win?

 

About the Author

Thomas M. Wing

 A Naval Academy and Naval War College graduate, Thomas M. Wing retired
after thirty-two years as a Navy Surface Warfare officer. He served in
guided missile destroyers and frigates, as well as with destroyer squadron,
cruiser destroyer group, numbered fleet, and Joint Task Force staffs, where
he planned and executed real-world joint operations at the operational and
strategic levels of war. He also participated in naval combat during
Operation Praying Mantis in the Middle East in April, 1988. He has taught
Coast Guard licensing courses and has held a variety of sailing licenses,
including Master and Master of Sailing Vessels, Upon Oceans. As well, he
founded and served as Executive Director for the Continental Navy
Foundation, which conducted experiential education at sea for young people
13-17 years of age. He also commanded the Foundation’s tall ship, the
brigantine Megan D.

His novel, Against All Enemies, resulted from a random thought during a
period of political tension between China and the U.S. What if that
political tension included cruise missiles flying in from the sea to strike
the San Diego waterfront?  Thomas M. Wing resides in San Diego with his
wife and daughter, two cats, and a dog. He still spends whatever free time
he has on the water.

Contact Links

Website

Facebook

Twitter: @thomasmwing1

Goodreads

Instagram

Purchase Links

Amazon

B&N

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

RABT Book Tours & PR

1 Comment

Filed under BOOKS

This is How He Collects Them Blitz

This is How He Collects Them banner

This is How He Collects Them cover

Horror

Date Published:10-13-2023

photo add-to-goodreads-button_zpsc7b3c634.png

 

A series of haunting nightmares draws five former residents of a New York
City high-rise back to their one-time home. But this is not a reunion. These
five strangers have never met. But they are connected.

The depressed photographer with telekinetic abilities … the
paralegal who reads evil thoughts of strangers … the struggling
author who can predict dark futures … the malicious hypnotist
… the witch’s daughter …

They have met in their dreams, and they have observed the shadows who
follow them until they awaken. Now they want answers. And when the five
board the same elevator at the same time, an ominous reality surfaces. They
did not return on their own. They were drawn back. Drawn by their
nightmares. Drawn by darkness.

Drawn … to be collected.

About the Author

Eric Woods

A writer since grade school, Eric Woods resides in Springfield, Illinois
and finally published his first novel in 2018. Today he has five novels, two
novellas, and one book of stage plays. Most recently, his short story
“The Taurus Bull” was featured in HorrorScope: A Zodiac
Anthology.

If you want to be spooked in person, Eric hosts the Lincoln Ghost Walk in
Springfield (through October). Come take the tour and learn some creepy
tales about the 16th President of the United States!

Eric earned a Bachelor’s Degree in English and a Master’s
Degree in Communication from the University of Illinois Springfield. He
served as a collegiate speech and debate coach for seven years, and has been
a local freelance writer since 2005.

 

Contact Links

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Blog

Goodreads

Instagram

TikTok

Purchase Links

Amazon

B&N

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

RABT Book Tours & PR

1 Comment

Filed under BOOKS

For the Love of Dog Tales 2 Blitz

For the Love of Dog Tales 2 banner

 

For the Love of Dog Tales 2 cover

Sci-Fi / Space Opera

Date Published: March 20, 2023

Publisher: MindStir Media

 

photo add-to-goodreads-button_zpsc7b3c634.png

 

Envision and bear witness through the seemingly simplistic mind’s eye of a
wondrous canine!

The Canine story Ebe: Take a kaleidoscopic infinite cosmic time trek cast
well beyond 100 billion light years!

The Canine Story Blu: Witness through the scientific machinations of their
own undoing the violent and tragic last stand of known humanity within a
futuristic icy abyss.

The Canine story Deake 0: Through his fateful origin, with police
companions in tow, trudge through the battle weary pursuit for life and the
unselfish drive for ultimate justice for our defenseless and the
downtrodden.

The Feline story of Swiftclaw at Heroes Fall: Champion alongside once again
with a now seasoned cat warrior’s desperate fight against a misaligned foe
with the potential for unlimited irreversible deadly possibilities in its
wake.

These are the challenges, these are the conquests, these are the dreams,
these are the successes, and with life, these are the sometimes tragic
failures.

The story-telling, the fable, the book. For the Love of Dog Tales 2.

About the Author

Irvin L. Cannon

Storyteller and dreamer, Irvin L. Cannon, put pen to paper for the first
time in response to a challenge. A simple challenge issued in response to
his comment… “I can write a better story than that.” The
challenge uttered, “Do it then”! He began scribbling story after
story into notebooks. For the Love of Dog Tales is the first release from
those tucked away pages birthed from that short exchange.

His vision and imagination for the art of storytelling was primarily
nurtured by his love for comic books. A scientist by training, dog lover by
nature, and a man with many years in law enforcement, Irvin’s
experience in the inner city street wars, combine to produce a biting view
of the world around us as seen through the eyes of his canine
characters—characters with whom he has crossed paths.

 

Contact Links

Website

 

Purchase Link

Amazon

RABT Book Tours & PR

Comments Off on For the Love of Dog Tales 2 Blitz

Filed under BOOKS

Killtown Virtual Book Tour

Killtown banner

Killtown cover

Horror/Thriller

Date Published: 10-23-2021 

Publisher: Didactic Cafe Press

 

photo add-to-goodreads-button_zpsc7b3c634.png

 

Can you survive the night when a murderous competition arrives in a small
East Texas town with one road in and no way out?

 

 

Killtown paperback

EXCERPT

The Invitation…

 

The stark white lightbulb swayed ever-so-slightly on its bare cord in the dark room, casting strange shadows on the shape bent over a workbench.  It was vaguely human, but contorted as it worked on something intently.  Something that would be deadly and vile and monstrous.  

Someday.

So far, the shape had only planned.  Planned death, destruction, murder, torture, and terror.  Planned to bring forth a darkness that would shake people to their core.  To make death art, and to make it prolifically.

But no blade had split flesh, no bullet had puckered skin, no bomb had charred and blasted bone from bone. No victim had experienced absolute terror as they breathed their last. 

Yet.

A single ping made the shape turn its head, and the slight movement of the stark bulb momentarily illuminated a youthful face, the face of a man who was barely that.  But it also showed eyes that were dark and devoid of hope or joy or even life.  They were the eyes of a man who would kill you- if only the opportunity presented itself and his will was strong enough.

He moved over to the small monitor rigged up by his own hand, connected to a port that allowed him access to the blackest of black on the dark web.  It had been in the recesses of the black pits of evil that he first dared share his dream of malice and mountains of blood.  It was there he found…dare he say it?  Friends.  And that distinct ping told him that a particular friend had just sent a message.

Those blank eyes scanned over a simple message, while his fingers idly played with the object he had been crafting- a six-inch blade with sharp wings going in all directions for maximum carnage when inserted into a person.  

The eyes ran back and forth over the simple words and numbers glowing white against a black background. He read it again and again, a tiny bit of drool beginning to form and ooze from the corner of his mouth. 

They read:

“Killtown”

Sundown tomorrow.

Kingston, TX

11:57:42 

 

The countdown continued to tick away.  After a minute or so, the white letters began to wash in a blood-red shade.

He smiled, and for the first time, those dead eyes showed life.

His moment had come.

 

11:56:52

11:56:51

11:56:50

Chapter 1

 

The sun bounced brightly off the yellow roof of the bus as it wound through the trees into a clearing.  It was headed to the tiny town that lay just ahead, an unremarkable hamlet known as Kingston, Texas.  It had two claims to fame- a little bar that served legendary cheese fries (Guy Fieri had been there once; they say) and an amazing six-man football team.  

The bus was coming for the latter, as the former would not admit minors.  

The third thing it might have been famous for- but would most definitely soon be famous for- was its isolation.  Kingston sat on an island in a man-made lake in East Texas.  Only one road led into the town, and that same road was the only way out.  Unless you wanted to swim for it.  The high school sat on a hill in the middle of the island, like a modern day Acropolis where footballs were thrown about instead of philosophies. A quaint downtown was just down from the school, and it was surrounded by modest homes and pine trees.  Sitting on the edge of the water- a lake created when a nearby river was dammed a century earlier- was a massive sawmill.  Aside from being a bedroom community for oil rig workers, the mill was the main reason for Kingston’s existence.  And the only reason it had a law enforcement presence at all.

Alas, Tommy Hanover had no idea about any of those interesting (a term loosely applied) facts.  As the bus flew past him, he knew only that his feet ached from walking, and that this would be the town he spent the night in.  

 

Tommy was no stranger to sore soles and strange towns.  Since returning from Afghanistan a few years earlier, he had lived a nomadic lifestyle.  He would wander the countryside, doing odd jobs here and there, always moving.  Never still.

Still was bad.

Tommy had never been diagnosed with PTSD- not formally, anyway.  He knew he had it, though.  How could he not?  He had seen half a dozen friends slaughtered by insurgents before his very eyes.  Tommy had done his job, returning the favor to those same twenty men with stolen American weapons they had taken from the corpses of countless and nameless other soldiers.  He had not killed them alone.  Not at first.  But as the battle wore on, he found himself driving deeper behind the enemy lines and beyond the safety and support of his squad.  

That was when he found three of them hunkered behind a dune.  They were surprised to see him.  But he was ready for them.  And what he did to them…

Tommy snapped his consciousness back to the present as the deep rumble of a V-8 engine approached quickly.  Tommy could tell it was a truck, an old one, and it was not in the best condition.  He turned his head, raising his hand to the brim of his black cap to block the sinking sun so he could confirm his suspicion.  

The truck was two-toned  gray and rusted.  A high-pitched whine was just barely audible from where the nearly bald tires met the asphalt.  White smoke belched from the mufflers (that were most definitely not living up to their name) and a large and probably human shape hunkered over the wheel. The truck rumbled past Tommy as they both crossed onto the bridge going over the lake below, and he saw a tarp flapping over the bed.  He imagined it to be some local hunter coming back with the day’s kill. It was deer season around these parts, after all.

Tommy knew things about the places he traveled to.  He saw it as a survival instinct born from his time in the service.  Tommy always got the lay of the land to make sure there was no ambush waiting, and to make sure he had an exit strategy.  

Kingston- population 616, according to the green sign Tommy was passing- was a quiet town six days of the week.  Friday nights were the exception because almost every citizen turned out to cheer on the Spartans.  Tommy figured the mascot was a nod to the isolated nature of the town- one road in and out, surrounded by dense East Texas forest and murky water on all four sides.  And, maybe, the fact that it was a town that made tough warriors.  

Or they thought they were tough.

Tommy guessed you had to be tough to survive out here, with little work available, and the poverty rate so high.  But people rarely left the town.  The few that did often found their way back before long.  

It was a Friday night, and so the small town would swell in size as a local rival came to face off on the gridiron.  Maybe Tommy would catch the game- he had some cash left over from his last odd job. He was thinking this prospect over when a green sedan idled up beside him and stopped.  A young guy with dark eyes leaned over and raised his voice over the sound of the clicking motor.  “Ya need a-a lift?” The kid’s voice was shaky, nervous.  Tommy made a mental note- probably a local scared of strangers.

“I’m almost there, but thanks. I think I’ll take you up on it.  Think you could point me to a local food joint?” Tommy asked, running the mental calculations to see if he had the money for dinner even as he asked.

The kid shook his head, “I’m not from here- just in town for the game.”  The kid looked around sheepishly, and Tommy thought the boy was watching out for traffic.  As he climbed into the old car, he could smell sweat and a subtle hint of alcohol.  Was the kid even old enough to drink?  Tommy thought that might be a question that would come his way soon.  Hey, mister, I don’t know where to get food, but I do know where to get booze.  Buy me some in exchange for the ride?

   But the question never came, and the kid put the car into gear, and they headed toward the town proper.  Tommy was stretching his feet in his shoes, thankful for the respite.  He noticed the kid was actively sweating, despite the cool of the night air swirling in through the open windows.  “First hitchhiker?” Tommy asked.

“Huh?” the kid replied, startled.  Tommy saw the boy’s left hand drop down between his seat and the door and stay there.  The kid shot a glance at Tommy, and chuckled, “Y-yeah.  That obvious?”

“Relax, kid, I only kill bad guys,” Tommy said good-naturedly.

The boy’s hand tensed on the wheel, almost imperceptibly, and the vein in his neck strained.  Tommy narrowed his eyes at the kid and tapped the patch on his jacket that indicated he was Special Forces.  “Or, at least, I used to,” Tommy said as the kid eyed the patch.  The vein calmed down, and Tommy reasoned silently that the kid was probably not going to the game, but to the house of a girl whose parents were.  That would explain the nerves.  

Nevertheless, Tommy had a bit of a sixth sense about situations that seemed off.  This was one of those.  That bar that was famous for cheese fries appeared on the right, and the neon sign that said “Hot Food!” caught Tommy’s attention.  “Hey kid, let me off here.”

The kid nervously looked over to where Tommy was pointing, and asked, “You sure?”

Tommy nodded.  “Yeah, I need to eat. Thanks for the ride…?” He extended his hand to the kid as the car slid into park.  

Tentatively, the kid shook the offered appendage, “S-Sean.”

Tommy looked in the back seat and, for a second, thought he saw an odd-shaped knife under a piece of black cloth. Then he turned his gaze back to Sean.  “See ya around, kid.  Enjoy the game.”

Sean blinked quickly, then added, “Y-you too!”  His hand finally released whatever he had grabbed by the seat, then he drove away. 

Tommy turned and started to walk into the bar- the Drunk Monkey.  One thought kept running through Tommy’s mind:

Man, that kid had dead eyes.

 

About the Author

Chad Lehrmann

 

Chad Lehrmann is the author of numerous novels and also finds time to teach
AP History to high school students. The product of a small town in Texas, he
knows all too well the secrets that live in those supposedly idyllic
villages.

 

Contact Links

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Goodreads

Instagram

TikTok

 

Purchase Link

Amazon

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

RABT Book Tours & PR

Comments Off on Killtown Virtual Book Tour

Filed under BOOKS

Crucible Blitz

Crucible banner

Crucible cover

 Dark Romantic Suspense

Date Published: 10-11-2023

 

photo add-to-goodreads-button_zpsc7b3c634.png

 

Some burn in the fire, others are forged in it.

 

I’m justice.

I’m deliverance.

I’m punishment.

Ultimately, I’m a dealer of death.

It’s exactly what they need from me.

To push back the enemy.

To keep them all safe.

I’m always one step ahead.

Until her.

She wasn’t meant to be here.

She’s tempting a cruel twist of fate.

Now he’s got her in his crosshairs.

He’ll feed off her vulnerability.

He’ll make her a victim of his obsession.

If I can’t pull her out, she’ll drown in the dark.

She’ll become as twisted as the rest of us.

 

About the Author

Franca logo

Franca writes emotional and gritty reads about alphas with a dark side and
the kickass women who turn their worlds upside down.

A Marvel and DC fan, you’ll often find her binging on superhero shows
and movies. Away from that heart-pumping action, she’ll relax with a
good book, or work on conquering her next 1,000-piece puzzle.

She writes to alternative and hard rock with her storyboard of inspiration
by her side and some tasty snacks along for the ride. A cross between a
pantser and a plotter, she’s happiest when she’s fully immersed
in crafting her fictional worlds.

Contact Links

Website

Facebook

Goodreads

Pinterest

Instagram

TikTok

 

Purchase Link

Amazon

 

RABT Book Tours & PR

Comments Off on Crucible Blitz

Filed under BOOKS