SCAM A-LAMA DING DONG: A Funny, Noir Rock Star Rip-Off (A Funny Scam Book 1)by Jinx James

Slide into the sleazy side of Show Biz, the dodgy side, in this fast paced Noir mash up of Dark Comedy, Crime and Classic Rock. When you’ve been a Rock Star as long as Marc Charles, you’ve seen a few Scams in your time, but never one quite like this. Cory, the dude from California isn’t just after Marc’s rock star mansion. He wants the lot, and with his corporation’s scumbag shakedown scheme he aims to get it.

To Marc it smacks of an old-time SCAM A-LAMA DING DONG rip-off.  “Us Rock ‘n Rollers have been getting scammed and ripped off ever since they invented shiny suits and electric guitars,” Marc tells his pal Howie.

But Rock Stars don’t like being messed with, especially when their career is at stake and time is running out. Marc fights back, and boy, can he play dirty too! With the brains of his sidekick moneyman Howie, and Marc’s own charisma and front, he sets out to turn the tables on the “Pay-to-Play” scammers. Marc’s tough-as-nails Agent, the ever-horny Felicity, is right in the line of fire, and there’s a new girl too, Samira, aka Sam. But she’s from a different age. This alluring heartbreaker isn’t taking any of that Rock Dinosaur crap Marc tries to lay on her. 

As he battles Cory, Marc keeps up the hi-jinks like any red-blooded rock star: Sex in a cupboard, duets with a Cowboy movie-star, a déjà vu jig-a-jig with his knife-throwing ex-wife – it’s all here, along with a Classic Rock and Soul soundtrack. That and some kinky KO’s from Morgana, a crazy Bad-Girl TV star, a little hot guitar, plus an absolute nutcracker of a plot twist at the end. 

If you like Carl Hiaasen’s dark humour, this fast, amped-up rock music “winner takes all” duel will be just your thing. SCAM A-LAMA DING DONG lives up to its wacky title.   

Be sure to check out SCAM A-LAMA HARDBALL as well. That’s Book #2 in my thrilling comedy crime SCAM A-LAMA Series. The plots get tougher, the Scams keep getting scummier, and the pace even wilder.

The Magnificent Spinster: A Novelby May Sarton

May Sarton’s powerful and profound novel of an extraordinary life, and of one woman’s efforts to preserve the force and vitality of her experiences on the pages of a book

For the second time in my life–and I am now seventy–I am embarking on an effort which may well come to nothing but which has possessed my mind, haunts, and will not let me sleep.

From her opening statement, Cam, the narrator of The Magnificent Spinster, declares her grand intentions: to write a novel–a worthy and important one in celebration of her recently deceased friend and teacher, Jane Reid, whose dearth of family threatens the memory of her almost tangible greatness. And so she writes, re-creating Jane’s childhood, adolescence, and years as a teacher–including the one in which Cam was her student. She writes of Jane’s irrepressible spirit and the charming letters Jane penned about her adventures, and she recounts Jane’s growing isolation as she aged, which, rather than softening her, only made her shine brighter.

Raw, warm, and beautifully rendered, The Magnificent Spinster is a stunning achievement–part memoir, part epistolary recollection, and part novel within a novel about friendship, memory, and the power of a brilliant soul.

The Phantom in the Fog: A Bowman Of The Yard Investigationby Richard James

Bowman of the Yard: Book Four

‘Wonderfully atmospheric, full of the thrills of Victorian London.’ Adam Croft

Autumn, 1892

Following a manic episode, Detective Inspector George Bowman recovers in Colney Hatch lunatic asylum. He is surprised when Elizabeth Morley, an acquaintance who had sought to offer him comfort following the death of his wife, pays an unexpected visit with news of an intriguing case.

A mythical figure – christened Jumping Jack by the salacious press – has returned to the streets of London, leaving a trail of death in his wake.

Bowman calls upon Sergeant Graves to act as his agent in the outside world, resulting in his erstwhile companion being subjected to the wrath of Graves’ new superior, the recently promoted Detective Superintendent Callaghan.

Graves is taken off the investigation and ordered to look into an issue of fraud at The Royal Armitage Bank. As his enquiries continue, however, it becomes clear the two cases may be linked.

As the killer strikes again and the citizens of London grow convinced they are in the grip of a supernatural force, Inspector Bowman must rely upon what’s left of his wits, an improvised map of London on his bedside wall and the memory of an investigation from his days as a detective sergeant.

Does a series of crimes from a decade ago hold the key to the current atrocities being committed in the fogbound streets of London?

Bowman must solve the crime from his hospital ward to enable his colleagues to confront the killer among them.

Richard James is an actor, playwright and author with many credits to his name. The Bowman Of The Yard series marks his first as an author. Other books in the acclaimed series include The Head in the Ice, The Devil in the Dock and The Body in the Trees.
‘A genuinely impressive debut.’ Andrew Cartmel, The Vinyl Detective.
‘Crime fiction with wit and twists.’ Richard Foreman, Raffles: The Complete Innings.

Rolling Thunderby Matt Lincoln

Ethan Marston was once a master at his craft. Taking down criminals was easy like Sunday morning, but those days are far behind him. Now he runs a bar & is pretty comfortable in his new role, slinging drinks and saving the day. It turns out that his best days aren’t behind him after all.

Wolf Harvestby J. Michael

Love and friendship take a backseat to survival–especially if you’re a young male wolf on the outskirts of suburban Pittsburgh.
Coda navigates the city and forest, fascinated by these strange creatures called the two-legs and the metal beasts that transport them. He hunts game, encounters new allies, while enduring the brutality of bitter rivals. His routine of blood and stealth is interrupted when a mysterious female from another land enters his world, then turns it upside down.
Observing him is Amy–a beautiful, brilliant, but socially isolated college student–and Sam–a handsome, charming, college basketball star. Under the guidance of their zoology professor, they document the actions and movements of the coywolf species.
When they see Coda heading to northern Canada, Sam and Amy will drop everything during the blizzard of the century to follow him.
Together, these lost souls (human and animal alike) will discover that the only thing more important than knowing how to survive in this dangerous, chaotic world is knowing who you are, and what you’re surviving for.
Wolf Harvest is a tale of suspense, humor, heartbreak, bigotry, and cunning in the face of fear.

Creative and enjoyable for audiences of all ages and species, this book will keep you thrilled to the end. Buy Wolf Harvest and you won’t regret it.

Imbalanceby E. W. Johnson MD

A young reporter has stumbled into the story of a lifetime. Linking the deaths of three people to a designer drug with connections to a privately owned pharmaceutical company, his investigation is suddenly blocked by Federal authorities. In an instant the three bodies and all evidence in the case disappears. With nowhere else to turn, he calls Dr. Sean Nolan. Intrigued by the reporter’s account, the Federal involvement is a flashing red warning light. Dr. Nolan wishes the young man good luck but refuses to be drawn into the mystery.Days later, when the reporter vanishes without a trace, his regret at not helping becomes a growing burden of guilt. Now all he needs to do is track down the reclusive billionaire owner of Geneteer Pharmaceutical somewhere in South Sudan.
What could possibly go wrong?

The Imperial Orchidby Nicola Italia

At the end of the Victorian era, Orchid Mania has gripped the wealthy and aristocratic men of England. Collectors are willing to spend a small fortune to obtain the rare flowers from distant lands. Lord Holloway, president of the Royal Horticultural Society in London, has decided to finance an expedition team to Ceylon to capture one of the rarest orchids on earth.

Frances Wakefield is an educated woman and a gifted illustrator and has traveled throughout Europe documenting various plants and flowers for the Society. When she is handpicked by Lord Holloway to travel to Ceylon as a member of the expedition team, she is thrilled.

When she arrives in Egypt to meet the other members of the team, she comes face-to-face with Miles St. Clair, Lord Holloway’s son and heir. He is the arrogant, handsome, insufferable man she encountered at several soirees in London and the team’s leader.

As the team scours Ceylon searching for the orchid, someone has been watching Lord Holloway’s team intent on securing the orchid for themselves at any cost. As the team gets closer to finding the orchid, a growing attraction intensifies between Miles and Frances. As the danger increases, the couple must work together to evade the threat and escape Ceylon alive.

Alchemy of a Witch: Part Oneby April Aasheim

Centuries before Dark Root…
A once peaceful land is besought with unrest, as The Great Sickness spreads its malignant vines across towns and villages. Suspicion reigns, as neighbor fears neighbor, and The Church searches for the root of the plague, and a scapegoat.
As the dead accumulate, a verdict is delivered: witchcraft is to blame.
In a sudden upheaval, the once revered Keepers-of-the-Old-Ways are vilified and hunted, as a new consciousness sweeps across the world–
Submit to the new ways, or perish.

***
Part One:
As plague rages across neighboring villages, Leckwich’s wise-woman, Almara, is arrested for witchcraft. Before she is taken away, Almara tasks her daughter, Morgan, with guardianship of two precious heirlooms. When Morgan herself is accused of witchcraft, she becomes a fugitive from her own village. Escaping with only her Mother’s strange book and stone, she disappears into The Great Forest, and the rumored beasts that reside there.

***
This four-part, stand-alone prequel series reveals secret chapters of Dark Root lore.

Living in Cleveland With the Ghost of Joseph Stalinby Marc Sercomb

It’s the summer of 1953. Calvin Jefferson Coolidge is thirteen years old when the ghost of Joseph Stalin appears to him in his Aunt Evelyn’s cluttered Cleveland attic and wants to dictate his memoirs to him.

“I want to tell my side of the story,” Uncle Joe tells him. “They’re giving me one year to set the record straight, so we need to get started right away.”

Calvin’s life is falling apart at the seams. He’s a misfit and loner whose only friends are famous dead people. He loves polka music and Westerns and sometimes wonders what it would be like to kiss a girl. His con man father is in Florida looking for his bipolar runaway mother. His cousin Buck is abducted and experimented on by aliens. The lady next door wants to coach him in the ways of love. His pastor thinks he’s headed straight for Hell. His English teacher thinks he’s a savant. The school psychologist wants to have him committed. His shrink thinks he’s just plain nuts. Sometimes, Calvin believes it too.

Everybody’s trying to figure out what makes Calvin tick in this quirky, fast-paced metaphysical romp through the heart and soul of 1950’s America.