First Chapter Review: Byzantine Gold by Chris Karlsen

The first chapter of Byzantine Gold by romantic thriller author Chris Karlsen was submitted to me by her publicist.

BLURB: A sunken warship from the Byzantine Era carrying an unusual cargo of gold has been found off the coast of Northern Cyprus. News of the valuable cache has attracted the attention of a terrorist cell. They plan to attack the recovery team’s campsite and steal the artifacts. On the Black Market, the sale of the relics will buy them additional weapons.

Charlotte Dashiell, an American archaeologist, and her lover, Atakan Vadim, a Turkish government agent, are scheduled to be part of the recovery team that brings up the artifacts. While en route to Cyprus, they find themselves caught in the crosshairs of Maksym Tischenko, a Ukrainian contract killer bent on revenge. Charlotte, Atakan and Tischenko share a grim history. As a result, Tischenko is a man who will stop at nothing to achieve his goal—seeing them both dead.

COVER:  A bit busy for my taste, but it is beautiful. The colors work well and it captures the essence of the book based upon the back cover blurb.

FIRST CHAPTER: Charlotte and Atakan are in Paris when Charlotte believes she's seen Tischenko, a man who once kidnapped and tortured her. Atakan isn't so sure, but by the time they make it to where Charlotte thinks she saw him, he's gone.

KEEP READING: For now. Karlsen does a superb job of painting a picture of Paris for the reader. That, with the possibility she has encountered the man who has already attempted to kill her, encourage one to continue. My challenge was the dialogue was stilted by too many "he said, she said" type tags, which break up the natural flow of conversation and slow the pace.

It appears the book will be told by at least two points of view: Charlotte's and Tischenko's. This will add depth and allow readers to understand both sides to the story. I'm looking forward to that.

I would definitely read another chapter or two to see how the story flows. Based upon the synopsis, it sounds fascinating.


File Size: 2253 KB
Print Length: 287 pages
Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1481980726
Publisher: Books to Go Now (December 31, 2012)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Language: English
ASIN: B00AVMIHDE

Purchase at Amazon!

I received the first chapter of this book from the author through her publicist. This review contains my honest opinions, for which I have not been compensated in anyway. 

First Chapter Review: Golden Chariot by Chris Karlsen

I'm slightly changing the format of my first chapter reviews by eliminating the title and author line at the beginning of the post. That information is in the blog post's title and on the book cover. It seems redundant to me. :)

I won a copy of this book when I visited the author during a blog stop at The Dark Phantom Review. The synopsis of the book captured my attention, so I wanted to dig into it right away.

BLURB:  The rare discovery of a ship sunk during the time of the Trojan War has been found off the coast of Turkey, near Troy. Charlotte Dashiell is an American nautical archaeologist and thrilled to be part of the recovery team. The wreck may contain proof of her highly controversial theory about the Trojan War.

Charlotte is present when the Turkish government agent assigned to guard the site is murdered. Her possible involvement and a questionable connection to a private collector of black market relics bring her under suspicion. Atakan Vadim is the Turkish agent sent to investigate her. Unknown to either of them, the smuggler behind the murder plans to steal a valuable artifact and frame Charlotte for the theft...after they murder her.

COVER:  Great. Exactly what I would expect for this book. It captures the setting and the plot perfectly.

FIRST CHAPTER:  Charlotte is on a boat in Greece when she is awakened by an explosive sound. Traveling through the darkness she goes to find Ekrem and Heather. The friends soon meet up with a crewman who helps direct them to rescue boats, but they are separated.

KEEP READING:  Definitely. This is a different setting and plot than I would typically read, but the synopsis made me want to dive right in. I love history, so that this story will tie into the Trojan War adds excitement for me. The first chapter isn't long, but it's filled with suspense and danger. Karlsen drops us right into the action and keeps us on guard as Charlotte and her friends find each other and make their way on deck. I can't reveal more, but I will say the first chapter ends strongly and I am eager to continue.

File Size: 3348 KB

Print Length: 316 pages

Publisher: Books to Go Now (March 14, 2012)

Sold by: Amazon Digital Services

ASIN: B007KNLC02

SRP: $2.99 for Kindle

I won a free copy of this book from a blog. I was not asked to write a review. A full review will follow at a later date. I received no monetary compensation of any kind for sharing my thoughts.

Book Spotlight: Ruins Discovery by Janie Franz

Anthropologist Kate Ferguson stumbles upon desert ruins, ancient rituals, and psychic gifts, awakening a love that could prove deadly.

Read an excerpt!

Though some of Kate’s fellow graduate students would probably have noticed the superb fit of the stranger’s designer suit, it was his black hair, beginning to gray at his temples, which caught her eye. That was an odd quality in someone his age with his obvious Spanish lineage and apparent refinement. She scanned his features, taking in his sensitive mouth and a nose hinting at an Aztec hawkishness.

She quickly rejected the comparison as she turned to Dr. Swartz, her employer as well as her faculty advisor. He had accused her on more than one occasion of trying to find Aztecs under every rock as she researched Aztec/Maya links with the Arizona prehistoric peoples.

Embarrassed at the memory, she turned back to the stranger. His dark gaze concentrated on her intently for a few seconds, and then he retreated into his thoughts as if he could only focus on the world around him in brief glimpses. It didn’t seem like the muddleheaded preoccupation she’d seen among physics majors. And, it definitely wasn’t drugs—or any she had read about—since he just exhibited a piercing moment of clarity and after that withdrew. It seemed a controlled act or one repeated so often it had become habit. His ability to turn on a single moment of intense interest and concentration like switching on a floodlight—and quickly turn it off—fascinated Kate. She wondered if he had family problems preoccupying him—an errant wife or a child flunking school.

PURCHASE RUINS DISCOVERY AT MUSEITHOT PUBLISHING AND AMAZON!

Janie Franz comes from a long line of liars and storytellers with roots deep in east Tennessee. Honed by the frigid Northern Plains and a degree in anthropology, her writing skill and curiosity have generated thousands of feature and cover articles over a vast range of topics for more than a hundred regional, national, and international publications for over a decade.

She has co-written two books with Texas wedding DJ, Bill Cox (The Ultimate Wedding Ceremony Book and The Ultimate Wedding Reception Book), and has self-published a writing manual, Freelance Writing: It’s a Business, Stupid!

She runs her own online music publication, Refrain Magazine (www.refrainmagazine.com), is a book and music reviewer, and was a radio announcer, a booking agent/publicist for a groove/funk band, and a yoga/relaxation instructor.

“Ruins: Discovery” is her fourth published work of fiction. Visit Janie online at http://janiefranz.fourfour.com/home and http://ruinstrilogy.wordpress.com/.

Dave Donelson and Heart of Diamonds

Today's guest blogger is Dave Donelson, author of Heart of Diamonds. Dave will be providing us with an article on the inspiration behind some of his characters.

Heart of Diamonds is my high-concept romantic thriller about blood diamonds in the Congo. The plot concerns the White House, the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and an American televangelist in a diamond smuggling scheme that is uncovered by an enterprising TV reporter, Valerie Grey.

One of the most interesting characters in Heart of Diamonds is Gary Peterson, the American televangelist who owns the diamond mine. He’s a fabulously successful man of God, a close pal of the President of the United States, and utterly devoted to making a quick buck or two if the opportunity presents itself. He also has a right hand man, missionary Thomas Alben, who runs the diamond mine for him and does most of the dirty work in the operation.

Both of these characters are fictional, of course, but they had their genesis in the real world. The whole concept for Heart of Diamonds sprang from an article I read in Time Magazine about the cozy relationship between Pat Robertson, the famous American televangelist, and Mobutu Sese-Seko, the dictator who raped the Congo for thirty years. When I found out Robertson owned diamond mines and timber concessions in the Congo—making profits from slave labor, no less—I simply had to write a book about it.

The Robertson-Mobutu connection is fascinating. Mobutu was essentially put in office by the CIA. He ran the country for three decades and stole literally billions of dollars. During that time, he had one of the worst human rights records in Africa.

The other member of the tag team is Pat Robertson, one of the most successful evangelical preachers of all time. He founded the 700 Club, ran for President of the United States, and has millions of followers around the world who subscribe to his version of Christianity. You wouldn’t think these two men would be buddies, but they were.

Robertson had many business interests in the Congo—and it just wasn’t possible to operate there at the time without the direct approval of Mobutu. It was also well-known that you didn’t get that approval for free. Apparently, Robertson and Mobutu got along famously. The Time article reported that one time, Robertson and his wife and their entourage were flown from Paris to Kinshasa on one of Mobutu's personal Boeing 707s. In Zaire, Mobutu himself took them on the presidential yacht on a ride up the Congo River to visit one of his estates.

Robertson had a relief program in the Congo that is still functioning, Operation Blessing, as well as a private concern called the African Development Company, which made investments in mining, lumber, agriculture, transportation and power generation, supposedly with an eye to plowing the profits back into humanitarian efforts. One of those investments was a diamond mine in a small town south of Tshikapa near the Congo’s border with Angola. That’s the site of the diamond mine in Heart of Diamonds.

One of the men who ran ADC for Robertson was Bill Lovick, a former minister of the Assemblies of God who was dismissed by the church in 1985 for questionable fund-raising practices. Readers of Heart of Diamonds may find some interesting similarities between these men and some of the characters in the novel, notably televangelist Gary Peterson, the missionary Thomas Alben who runs the diamond mine, and Moise Messime, the President of the Congo.

The more I learned about these guys and the things they were doing in the Congo in the name of Jesus Christ, the more intrigued I became. Heart of Diamonds isn’t their story—the smuggling scheme, the connection to the White House, the U.S. military involvement, and many other elements are completely fictional. The characters are figments of my imagination, too, although they certainly have personality traits similar to some real individuals.

What is very real in Heart of Diamonds is my portrayal of the terrible plight of the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is the direct result of the unadulterated greed of people trying to control the vast natural resources of the country. Mobutu may be long gone and Pat Robertson’s business interests gone with him, but the brutality continues.

About the book:

Heart of Diamonds implicates an American televangelist, the President of the Congo, and the American White House in a diamond smuggling scheme that leads to U.S. military involvement in the Congo’s civil war. TV journalist Valerie Grey uncovers the conspiracy and tries to expose it before America is drawn fully into the endless war. Powerful forces—a ruthless mercenary, the Congolese army, and cold-blooded agents sent by the White House—try to stop her in a magnificent chase along crocodile-infested rivers, overland through raging gun battles, and into the sky in armed helicopters.

About the Author:

Dave Donelson’s career as a broadcaster, entrepreneur, and writer has taken him from the jungles of Australia’s Cape York Peninsula to the minarets of Riyadh. He’s climbed the spire of the Empire State Building, floated the Usumacinta River to the Mayan ruins at Piedras Negras in Guatemala, and photographed the tree-climbing lions and mountain gorillas of Uganda.

Dave’s inquisitive, active lifestyle finds its way into freelance writing and photographic assignments for magazines like Disney’s FamilyFun, Woodworker’s Journal, and Las Vegas Magazine. Closer to home, he writes features for Westchester Magazine as well as a regular column on golf. He is a member of the prestigious Metropolitan Golf Writers Association.

His first novel, Hunting Elf, began as an audio book at www.huntingelf.com and was published as a trade paperback in 2006. K9 Perspective called it “…a delicious romp through the suburbs of New York.”

Dave’s first book was Creative Selling (Entrepreneur Press, 2000), a non-fiction prescriptive described by Brian Tracy as “…a terrific book on selling.” As a business journalist, he writes for The Christian Science Monitor, Family Business Magazine, and dozens of trade publications serving industries from the automotive aftermarket to sporting goods retailing.

Dave has a BA in Rhetoric and Public Address from Missouri Western State University. He serves as a Trustee for the Westchester Library System, a consortium of 38 public libraries serving Westchester County, NY. He lives in West Harrison, NY, with his wife, Nora, and an ever-changing roster of dogs and cats.

Visit www.davedonelson.com for a selection of Dave’s work.


The HEART OF DIAMONDS VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR '08 will officially begin on November 3 and end on November 26. You can visit Dave's blog stops at http://virtualbooktours.wordpress.com in November to find out more about his latest book!

As a special promotion for all our authors, Pump Up Your Book Promotion is giving away a FREE virtual book tour to a published author or a $50 Amazon gift certificate to those not published who comments on our authors' blog stops. More prizes will be announced as they become available. The winner will be announced on our main blog at www.pumpupyourbookpromotion.wordpress.com on November 30!

Checkmate by Jean Hackensmith--Book Review

Gripping and suspenseful, Checkmate by Jean Hackensmith will have you on the edge of your seat and rooting for the good guys.

Eighteen years ago, Caryn Deaver's husband tied her up, along with their two children, locked them in the bathroom and set fire to their house. They survived and Dan went to prison for eighteen years. But now he's out and he's looking to finish the job...and this time he wants to include Zach, the new man in Caryn's life. Can police captain Brian Koski find Dan before his sadistic game ends up in Checkmate?

With Checkmate--the first book in the Brian Koski "Stalker" Series--Hackensmith has added another dimension to her writing career. I got totally caught up in the last book of hers I read, The Ultimate Passage--which I reviewed here. Typically a writer of time travel and historical romance, this is Hackensmith's first attempt at romantic suspense. Hopefully she'll continue.

In addition to the full slate of realistic and complex characters found within Checkmate, Hackensmith has written a novel that pulls you in from the first word to the last. The subplots compliment the main plot and all are pulled together at the end--which is superbly done.

The reader can both understand Caryn's hesitation to get too involved with Zach after trusting her ex-husband the way she did and sympathize with the frustration Zach feels over Caryn's lack of commitment to him. And Dan's game puts these two characters through the ringer. Hackensmith pushed these characters to every limit they had.

The high level of research Hackensmith performed is obvious in her realistic portrayal of Dan, who as an ex-cop manages to use his on the job training to keep eluding Brian and members of the Sixth Precinct. Hackensmith also performed thorough research on the training and usefulness of protection dogs, and made Mika (Zach and Caryn's protection dog) into a wonderful canine character who readers will also fall in love with.

Kudos go out to the designer of the cover. The burning house partially overlaid with a black square and two chess pieces truly captures the essence of the book.

What a powerful start to a series! I eagerly anticipate the next book.


Title: Checkmate
Author: Jean Hackensmith
Publisher: Port Town Publishing
ISBN-10: 1-59466-116-2
ISBN-13: 978-1-59466-116-7
U.S. Price: $14.95

Heroes and Heroines from Checkmate by Jean Hackensmith

I was thrilled when I heard romance author Jean Hackensmith was returning to Pump Up Your Book Promotion for another virtual book tour. After reading and loving The Ultimate Passage, the final book of the "Passage" saga that she co-wrote with Kathe Birch, I knew I wanted to bring Jean back to The Book Connection to talk about her latest novel, a romantic thriller.

Caryn Deaver survived a nightmare.

A victim of spousal abuse, Caryn’s ex-husband bound her and their children hand and foot, locked them in the bathroom, and set the house on fire. They managed to escape with their lives, and Dan Hamilton was sentenced to eighteen years in prison for the crime. He’s out now, though, and the rules in his sadistic game allow Caryn only twelve “moves” before she dies.

Zach Riker, Cheyenne’s Fire Chief, was the first paramedic on the scene eighteen years ago. He saved Caryn’s life. Now she is his life and he’ll stop at nothing to protect the woman he has come to love.



Here Jean talks about the hero and heroine from Checkmate and even a bit about the villian.

When Cheryl from Pump Up Your Book Promotion asked me to write this guest post telling about the hero and heroine in “Checkmate,” it was like…yes! This one will be easy. Caryn and Zach are like members of my family. I know them better than I sometimes know myself. Well, I was wrong. It wasn’t so easy. I know them both intimately, of course, but describing just who these two complex characters are—and doing them justice—is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. But I’ll give it a shot.

Caryn is a second grade teacher. Zach is the Fire Chief in Cheyenne, Wyoming. They’re both in their forties. The initial review I received on “Checkmate” commented on that fact. The reviewer said it was “refreshing” to see an older couple as the main characters in a romance. While the actual “romance” may take a back seat to suspense in “Checkmate,” it in no way lessens Zach and Caryn’s commitment to one another. In fact, if anything, they are more committed than the average couple because they’ve both been “around the block.” In other words, they’ve both been married before. They both have grown children. Caryn even has two grandchildren. In some ways, though, their individual histories hamper their relationship. Caryn’s ex-husband was controlling, possessive and abusive. Consequently, she was single for sixteen years and, even now, is hesitant to commit herself legally to another man. In Caryn’s mind, it’s all about power. Dan Hamilton exerted his authority over her from the moment she signed the marriage certificate, and she’s not sure she wants to give another man that kind of control. Zach faces a different dilemma. His wife cheated on him repeatedly during the course of their marriage, leaving him distrustful and bitter. Though he did date other women in the interim, none were able to crack the protective shell he had encased himself in—until Caryn.

Caryn and Zach had been together for two years by the time Dan Hamilton was released from prison. He’s Caryn’s ex. He tried to kill her and their children eighteen years earlier. Now he’s stalking her, and the ensuing reign of terror will test their commitment to one another like nothing before ever has. Their children will be threatened, too—they each have two—and so will Brian Koski, Zach’s best friend. Brian’s a cop. It’s his job to get involved. When it soon becomes apparent that Dan’s sadistic game of cat and mouse could lead to murder, however, even Brian gets scared and goes above and beyond the call of duty to protect his friends.

The last “main character” in the book is Mika. She’s a protection dog. A black German Shepard. She will give her life to save her masters and is trained to attack on command. I worked extensively with Chris Byrne from Stone Hill Kennel in Connecticut to make sure Mika’s abilities were portrayed correctly. He even agreed to become a character in the book. Mika is a sweetheart. She can also be deadly. In Chris’ words, she’s “a good man’s best friend, and a bad man’s worst enemy.”

The characters in “Checkmate” are more down-to-earth than any I’ve ever created before. They have flaws. They’re vulnerable. They make mistakes. In short, they are real.

The CHECKMATE VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR '08 will officially begin on May 1, 2008 and continue all month long. If you would like to follow Jean's tour in progress, visit http://www.virtualbooktours.wordpress.com/ in May. Leave a comment at any of her blog stops and become eligible to win a free copy at the end of her tour! One lucky winner will be announced on this tour page on May 30!


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