Come Chat with Steve Berry at BookTrib.com

Do you love suspense thrillers?   Do  you love Steve Berry?  If you answered yes to either one of these, I suggest you join in on the chat with Steve Bery at the BookTrib on Wednesday.  Just click below to RSVP!  They are giving away 10 copies of The Columbus Affair during the chat.

Pick Your Thon Starting Line

 

You know I love a read-a-thon, so when I saw the Pick Your Thon, I had to join in.  Pick Your Thon is being hosted by The Book Monsters and it's up to you what you do this week.  You can do a read-a-thon or a review-a-thon or both.  So come join in.  There are prizes and just general fun.  Check out the main post for more information.

 

1. Which thon are you choosing? Readathon, Reviewathon or both? And why?

I'm doing both because I have a lot of reading and reviewing to catch up on.

2. Where are you from? You can be vague or specific, up to you. 

I'm from coastal NC from around the southern end of the outer banks.  I love it here, we're right at the beach and while we don't actually go to the beach, we do typically head out in the boat every weekend.  I wouldn't trade living here for anything.

3. Say a little bit about yourself so we can get to know you if we don't already! 

I work as a research assistant in marine science and work with hurricane modeling.  I love it.  I have a husband I have been with for 20 years and married to for almost 15 years.  We have two boys, one is 11 and one is 7.  We are pretty laid back.  All four of us love to read. Mitch is reading the Game of Thrones series at the moment.  The 11-year old is obsessed with anything R.L. Stine and the 7-year-old loves Magic Treehouse.  As I mentioned earlier on weekends we can usually be found anchored up out in our boat near Cape Lookout with friends.  Beautiful view and fun for the kids to play.  I obviously will be found lounging with a book in my hand when not chatting the afternoon away. :)

4. What are you currently reading or about to pick up to read?

I am currently reading Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn and it is amazing so far.  I'm not sure what is next . . .

5. What are your goals for this Pick Your Thon?

I'm planning to write at least two reviews a day (not to post each day, just to write and schedule them) and then to read as much as I can (hopefully finish Gone Girl and read 1-2 more books).

Author Interview: Peter Leonard (All He Saw Was the Girl)

Today I have Peter Leonard, author of All He Saw Was The Girl visiting My Reading Room.  Make sure to check out his interview and the excerpt from this great new book.

What's the first sentence of All He Saw Was the Girl?

McCabe watched Chip offer the long-haired guy a cigarette, the guy surprising him, taking the pack of Marlboros out of Chip's hand.

When did you decide you wanted to be a writer?

I wrote ads for twenty-five years, and it became extremely boring. I started writing fiction in 2006, finished Quiver a year later and I got a two-book deal with St. Martin's Press in the U.S, and Faber & Faber in the UK.

If you had to pick one book that turned you on to reading, which would it be?
Hemingway short stories, and Of Mice and Men by Steinbeck.

What are some of your hobbies?

I play tennis, cook, collect wine, read. I go to concerts and movies. I love college football and basketball, and professional baseball. I have season tickets to the Detroit Tigers home games. I also love to go to interesting places. 

If you had to pick a favorite character in All He Saw Was the Girl who would it be?

McCabe is the main character, and he's my favorite.  There's a lot of me in McCabe.

Describe what All He Saw Was the Girl is about.

I think the copy on the back cover sums it up pretty well. Rome: McCabe and Chip, two american exchange students are about to become embroiled with a violent street gang, a beautiful Italian girl, and a flawed kidnapping plan. Detroit: Sharon Vanelli's affair with Joey Palermo, a Mafia enforcer, is about to be discovered by her husband, Ray, a secret service agent.

If you could take one trip, no expense spared, where would it be to?

Patagonia in southern Argentina. It looks spectacular. It's definitely on on list of places to go.


What do you have in the works right now?

I've written a sequel to Voices of the Dead, and I just finished another novel based on my time hanging out with Detroit Police Homicide.


SYNOPSIS:

Rome:

McCabe and Chip, two American exchange students, are about to become embroiled with a violent street gang, a beautiful Italian girl, and a flawed kidnapping plan.

Detroit:
Sharon Vanelli’s affair with Joey Palermo, a Mafia enforcer, is about to be discovered by her husband, Ray, a secret service agent.

Brilliantly plotted and shot through with wry humor, ALL HE SAW WAS THE GIRL sees these two narratives collide in the backstreets of Italy’s oldest city.

 

AUTHOR BIO:

Peter Leonard’s debut novel, QUIVER was published to international acclaim in 2008, and was followed by TRUST ME in 2009, and VOICES OF THE DEAD in 2012.

AUTHOR SITES:  Web Site 

Amazon link    B&N link

Partners In Crime Tours: All He Saw Was The Girl by Peter Leonard tour page.

Excerpt:

Sharon was thinking, who was this guy lived in a five-thousand-square-foot house – not that his taste was any good – on Lake St. Clair, had nothing but leisure time or so it seemed? He called her four, five times a day, said, “How you doing?” And Sharon would say, “Same as I was when you called fifteen minutes ago.” “Baby, I miss you. Tell them you’re sick, we’ll go to the casino.” Or he’d be at the track or a Tigers day game, he’d say, “I gotta see you. Take the afternoon off, I’ll send a car.” She’d been going out with him for three weeks and it was getting serious. They’d meet at noon, check into a hotel a couple times a week and spend two hours in bed, screwing and drinking champagne. It was something, best sex she’d ever had in her life. He did things to her nobody had ever done before. She’d say, where’d you learn that? And he’d say, you inspire me, beautiful. The only bad thing, he called her Sharona, or my Sharona. Everything else was great so she let it go. They’d take his boat out on Lake St. Clair and she’d sunbathe topless. Something she’d never done in her life and never imagined herself doing. She felt invigorated, liberated. He always told her she looked good, complimented her outfit. Showered her with gifts, bought her clothes and jewelry. She felt like a teenager again. They’d meet and talk and touch each other and kiss. She was happy for the first time in years. She had to be careful. Ray, the next time he came home, might notice something and get suspicious.Why’re you so happy? she could hear him saying – like there was something wrong with it. But this relationship with Joey also made her nervous. Things were happening too fast. She was falling for him and she barely knew him, and she was married.