Thanks to Nicole Ballengee of PR by the Book, I am giving away one print copy of ‘Mad Dog ‘by Kelly Watt.
Description Mad Dog by Kelly Watt
A young woman’s coming-of-age story set against a backdrop of mystery and fanaticism
It’s the summer of 1964 and the Supremes are the reigning queens of radio. Sheryl-Anne MacRae dreams of running away from her home on an apple orchard in southwestern Ontario to find her missing mother. But the teenager’s plans are put on hold when her uncle and guardian, Fergus, the local pharmacist and an amateur photographer, brings home a handsome young hitchhiker.
When Sheryl-Anne meets the guitar-toting Peter Lucas Angelo, she falls in love. But life in Eden Valley is not as idyllic as it seems. As the summer progresses, Peter is pulled deeper into Fergus’ dangerous underworld – a world of sex, drugs, pornography and apocalyptic visions.
Through the naïve eyes of the ethereal 14-year old Sheryl-Anne, Kelly Watt explores themes of child abuse and sexual deviance, and the secrets, dissociation and denial that allow it to flourish.
A gothic tale told in vivid, often hallucinogenic prose, Mad Dog was a 2001 Globe and Mail notable book and Watt’s first novel. The book has been republished with a U.S. publisher (an updated edition).
Praise Mad Dog by Kelly Watt
“The strangest coming-of-age story you ever did read.” – The National Post
“To call this a first-love/coming-of-age story would belie the suspense and mystery that Watt so adeptly creates.” – The Globe & Mail
About Kelly Watt
Kelly Watt’s award-winning short stories have been anthologized, published internationally and longlisted for the prestigious CBC Radio’s Short Fiction Contest twice (2017/2015). She is the author of two books—the travel companion Camino Meditations (2014), and the gothic novel Mad Dog (2019). Watt lives in the Ontario countryside with her husband, a miniature schnauzer and three diligent chickens.
Category: Adult Fiction, 305 pages Genre: Mystery/Thriller/Suspense Publisher: Crown Publishing Group Release date: October 16, 2018 Tour dates: Oct 22 to Nov 2, 2018
Description Lullaby Road by James Anderson
Winter has come to Route 117, a remote road through the high desert of Utah trafficked only by those looking to escape the world and those the world has rejected. Local truck driver Jones, still in mourning over the devastating murder of his lover Claire, is trying to get through another season of his job navigating treacherous roads and sudden snowfall without accident when a mute Hispanic child is placed in Jones’s path at a seedy truck stop along his route bearing a note that simply reads “Please, Ben. Bad trouble. My son. Take him today. His name is Juan. Trust you only. Tell no one. Pedro.” From that moment forward, nothing will ever be the same. Not for Ben. Not for the child. And not for anyone along the seemingly empty stretch of road known as Route 117.
Despite deep misgivings, and without any hint of who the child is or the grave danger he’s facing, Jones takes the child with him and sets out into a landscape that is as dangerous as it is beautiful and silent. With the help of his eccentric neighbors—Phyllis, who turned up one day in her Rolls-Royce with two children in tow and the FBI on her tail; Andy, a Utah State Trooper who is on or off duty depending on if his hat is on or off his head; and Roy, an ex–coal miner who has lived in Rockmuse, off Highway 117, his whole life and survives on odd jobs and the kindness of his neighbors—Jones uncovers buried secrets of the desert that are far more painful than he could have imagined.
In LULLABY ROAD, readers will find themselves enthralled by Anderson’s vivid sense of place and his beautiful and heartbreaking narrative.
My Thoughts Lullaby Road by James Anderson
Ben is a trucker who does deliveries in a rural desert area in Utah on highway 117. The people who live along the route are “eccentrics, fugitives, and those looking to escape the world.” One early morning he stops at the truck stop he stops at every morning to fuel up but there is a surprise waiting for him.
A boy is left there with a note from an acquaintance, Pedro, asking him to look after his son and tell no one. Ben contemplates notifying the police but rules it out because he doesn’t know what kind of trouble Pedro has gotten himself into. The boy has a dog that will not leave his side so Ben gets them both in the truck. Then a woman shows up with her baby and asks him to take her for the day. They are good friends and he owes the woman his life so reluctantly he complies.
Thus starts off an adventure that will change Ben forever. The child eventually needs to pee and that is when he discovers that the boy is actually a girl. Why did Pedro say “his son”?
‘Lullaby Road’ is a sequel to the book ‘The Never-open Desert Diner’ but can easily be read without reading the first book. However, you are going to want to read the first book. I haven’t but just got it and can’t wait to start reading it! ‘Lullaby Road’ is hard to put down! I was enveloped by the harsh, yet beautiful landscape, the quirky characters, and the plot. Though it is suspenseful it is written in literary prose so literary fiction lovers will get a lot out of it. I certainly did!
I highly recommend this atmospheric novel and think it would be a great book club book. I also think it would make a great gift for book lovers! I give it 5 out of 5 stars.
Praise Lullaby Road by James Anderson
“Atmospheric…Arresting desert vistas and distinctive characters leave a lasting impression.” – Publishers Weekly
“Anderson’s lyrical prose brings a forgotten corner of the world to life, and the authentic narrative does the same for Jones. Recommended for fans of William Kent Krueger’s Cork O’Connor and Craig Johnson’s Walt Longmire.”- BookList
“…a delicious cast of colorful characters…Lullaby Road is a triumphant mix of landscape, character, wit and sagacity wrapped in a noir thriller.”- Shelf Awareness
“The action is nonstop, and the plot twists are heart-pounding. Anderson’s vivid prose gives a sense of vastness that is the desert he so brilliantly describes – it is an amazing use of language to create a mood and feeling…Fans of Anderson’s first installment of this series will devour this book and long for another visit with the residents along Route 117.”- Library Journal Starred Review
JAMES ANDERSON was born in Seattle, Washington, and grew up in the Pacific Northwest. He is a graduate of Reed College and received his MFA in creative writing from Pine Manor College.
His first novel was The Never-Open Desert Diner. His short fiction, poetry, essays, and reviews have appeared in many magazines, including The Bloomsbury Review, New Letters, Solstice, Northwest Review, Southern Humanities Review, and others. He currently divides his time between Colorado and Oregon.
Thanks to Danielle Dill of Berkley & NAL, I am giving away one print copy of The Promise of Forgiveness by Marin Thomas.
Description of Promise of Forgiveness by Marin Thomas
When it comes to family, Ruby Baxter hasn’t had much luck. The important men in her early life abandoned her, and any time a decent boyfriend came along, she ran away. But now Ruby is thirty-one and convinced she is failing her teenage daughter. Mia is the one good thing in her life, and Ruby hopes a move to Kansas will fix what’s broken between them.
But the road to redemption takes a detour. Hank McArthur, the biological father Ruby never knew existed, would like her to claim her inheritance: a dusty oil ranch just outside of Unforgiven, Oklahoma.
As far as first impressions go, the gruff, emotionally distant rancher isn’t what Ruby has hoped for in a father. Yet Hank seems to have a gift for rehabilitating abused horses—and for reaching Mia. And if Ruby wants to entertain the possibility of a relationship with Joe Dawson, the ranch foreman, she must find a way to open her heart to the very first man who left her behind.
About Marin Thomas
Credit NAL Accent (TR) 2016
Marin Thomas is an award-nominated author of over twenty-five novels, including The Cash Brothers series. She grew up in Janesville, Wisconsin, where she was inducted into the Janesville Sports Hall of Fame for being the city’s first female athlete to receive a Division I basketball scholarship. Marin played basketball at the University of Missouri in Columbia for two years before transferring to the University of Arizona, where she played center for the Lady Wildcats from 1983 to 1986. During her time at Arizona, Marin was an Academic All-American and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in radio-television.
After graduation, Marin married her college sweetheart in a five-minute ceremony at the historic Little Chapel of the West in Las Vegas, Nevada. She used the first names of her two children, Thomas and Marin, to create her penname, despite her daughter’s insistence that no one would ever pronounce “Marin” correctly (muh-rín).
Marin now writes full time in her empty nest, eagerly awaiting the next text or phone call from her grown kids. Marin and her husband currently live in Houston, Texas. The Promise of Forgiveness is her first women’s fiction novel.
Giveaway of Promise of Forgiveness by Marin Thomas
This giveaway is open to the U.S. only and ends on March 18, 2016 12 am pacific time. Entries are accepted via Rafflecopter only.
Mad Dog by Kelly Watt
Lullaby Road by James Anderson
Promise of Forgiveness by Marin Thomas
