A Life Through Books

Tuesday, April 7, 2026

Book Blitz: Unbroken - Life Outside the Lines by Adriene Caldwell #nonfiction #memoir #traumamemoir #rabtbooktours @RABTBookTours
10:30 PM0 Comments

 

Trauma Memoir

Date Published: February 10, 2026

Publisher: Unbroken



“Unbroken: Life Outside the Lines” plunges you into Adriene Caldwell’s childhood—a world of grinding poverty, mental illness, and violence—then lifts you back out on a fierce up‑draft of resilience. Page after page, she peels back the polite veneer of society to reveal the systemic betrayals that let children like her slip through every safety net, yet she never relinquishes the fragile ember of hope that keeps her alive. Her voice is unflinchingly honest—at turns raw, lyrical, and darkly humorous—as she chronicles the horrors she endured and the instinct that urged her to fight for her little brother, and for herself, when no one else would. By the final chapter, you will understand why she can say, without irony, “We are not defined by our damage… We are Unbroken,” and you will close the book convinced that survival, in her hands, is its own quietly triumphant art form.

 


About the Author

 

 Adriene Caldwell is an author and advocate from Houston, Texas. Her memoir, Unbroken: Life Outside the Lines, traces the quiet aftermath of childhood trauma and the long arc of healing. Through writing, talks, and UnbrokenCaldwell.com, she champions hope, resilience, and storytelling as tools for recovery.


Contact Links

Website

Facebook

Instagram

LinkedIn


Purchase Links

Amazon

B&N


RABT Book Tours & PR
Reading Time:
Teaser: Devil's Man by Kira Stone #excerpt #lgbtq #darkfantasy #fantasy #romantasy #comingsoon #rabtbooktours @ChangelingPress @RABTBookTours
10:00 PM0 Comments


LGBTQ+ Dark Romantasy

Date Published: April 10, 2026



Research at Loveland College has never been quite so productive...

Devil's Man: Roman vows to have Carter, a reclusive professor, one way or another. Roman's devilish scheme to seduce Carter succeeds, to the great pleasure of all involved, but their tryst ends with dire consequences. To stay alive, Roman and Carter will have to face their deepest fears.

Between the Covers: Leah has to discover why Loveland College students are obsessed with having sex in her section of the college library. Leah turns to Sam, a Campus Security Detective, for expert advice. Together they seek the truth... Between the Covers.

Mayan Destiny: Professor Patrice Valez dreams of Mayan ruins and gods of old. When she wins a grant to study an obscure Mayan temple, she's stunned, and not entirely happy, to discover her Mayan obsession has a purpose -- and a price.

Bump in the Night -- "Department of Paranormal Research." Wade's colleagues laugh at the title on his office door. But if he can debunk the ghosts of the famed Hoag Mansion, he'll finally start getting the recognition he deserves. What he finds instead are things that go bump in the night...




EXCERPT

"Over here."


There was an impatient huff before a woman said, "I thought you said you knew where it was."


Leah Spencer paused in the act of replacing a book into its proper Dewey decimal order on the shelf. She looked around but didn't see anyone. Still, the sounds of heavy breathing were coming from a nearby location.


"I do. It's right here." Teeth of a zipper were parted.


"That is not what I'm looking for." This time instead of sounding aggrieved, the female's voice dripped with amusement.


Oh, crap. Not again. Her section of the library had to be the hottest make out spot on campus lately.


"Suck me," a male voice hissed.


"Like this?"


"Oh, yeah. That's it."


He started to moan. Wet sounds slipped between the logically ordered tomes to reach Leah's ears. Her face heated, and so did her feminine core.


"Lick it."


Apparently his lover complied because inarticulate encouragement ensued. Leah considered peeking around the spines to catch a glimpse of their faces so she could give a description to campus security, but as soon as she moved, the book in her hands rasped against the ones on the shelf at her waist.


"What was that?" the woman asked, suspicious.


Leah froze, her heart beating frantically at the thought of being discovered. It would certainly get her fired if the administration learned she'd been listening to, rather than interrupting, the copulating couple. Assuming, of course, that she survived the humiliation of being labeled a sexual voyeur.


"It's nothing. Ignore it," her partner replied.


"I really think --"


He cut her off. "No one ever comes up here. No one except people like us. Might get crowded, but we're not going to get in trouble."


His partner seemed reassured by his explanation. "Yeah, I guess you're right."


Safe for the moment, Leah carefully stepped out of her shoes so her feet wouldn't make a sound as she dashed down the main corridor, away from the action. Once she'd reached her miniscule office, she picked up the phone and dialed a number she knew by heart.


"It's happening again," Leah said as soon as Campus Security Detective Samuel Zheng answered.


"Damn. That makes the fourth time today."


The husky tenor of his voice jumpstarted the lust already simmering in her veins. Leah wished she were brave enough to intimately touch herself during one of these conversations. So far, she hadn't dared. But to come to the sound of his voice, to be that close to him whether he knew it or not, would be... would be... pathetic.


"Leah?"


She sighed, dismissing the fantasy and zeroing in on reality. "Yeah, I'm here."


"I'm on my way. Don't let them leave."


Right, she thought as the dial tone echoed in her ear. Even if Sam ran the whole way, it would take him ten minutes to arrive. She was a five-foot-nothing couch potato. How was she supposed to restrain two healthy adults if they were determined to go? Keep them riveted with a discourse on the finer points of fellatio?


Assuming they hadn't already left, she'd have to stay where she could monitor them. Listening to their passionate directives. Picturing them...


Enough!


As quietly as she could, Leah tiptoed back to her hiding place. Again, somehow she betrayed her presence. Damn Sam for asking her to do his job!


"There's another noise," the woman hissed. "Someone's coming."


"No one is coming but me, baby. Suck me a little harder, would ya?"


The woman chuckled softly. "Mmm, you're such a big boy. Gonna have to find something special to do for you." In the quiet, close quarters, Leah detected the rustle of fabric, followed by the snick of a bra being undone. "How about this, stud? Does it do anything for you?"


"That... is so... hot."


Images of what they might be doing flickered through Leah's mind. She closed her eyes. Their out-of-sync heavy breathing fueled the white-hot lust pulsing between her legs. She envisioned a pair of plump breasts surrounding a hard shaft, the rosy head peeking up from the deep, lily-white valley.


"Gonna let me fuck you?" the guy panted out.


"No, I want you to come like this. All over my breasts."


"Oh, yeah."


The smell of sex permeated the air. Leah's clit throbbed. She didn't want to risk moving around too much for fear of scaring them off, but she had to do something to soothe the ache in her swollen clit. Using the only option that came to mind, Leah placed a heavy tome between her legs. As quietly as possible, she ground against it so the rigid spine rode over her pussy, sending ripples of pleasure through her body.


People often teased her about getting off on books, but this was the first time she'd actually attempted it. The thought almost made her giggle, but she choked it off.


"That's it. Fuck my tits, stud."


"Gonna come," he announced.


"Do it for me. Do it now."


Leah was near the edge herself. As he grunted through his climax, Leah rubbed the book between her legs. Given the volume's size, it took both hands although she badly wished one were free to pluck at her pebbled nipples.


She'd never felt so wanton in her life. She imagined semen coating the woman's breasts, his hands rubbing it in. Her mouth licking him clean. All the while, her BOB substitute stroked her into a frenzy of wet, hot need.


"Here, let me get that." Whatever the man's offer entailed, his partner seemed to enjoy it. Her cry of pleasure triggered Leah's release. It wasn't the best orgasm of her life, but her reaction was intensified by the fact that she'd made it happen at all. In the library. Where she could have been caught at any second.


What in the hell had she been thinking?


As she pondered the depths of her recent depravity, the lights overhead dimmed for a full ten seconds, then brightened again. It signaled the five-minute warning before the staff started herding students out of Loveland College Library. Shit! Where was Sam?



About the Author

Kira Stone has been around the block…the writer’s block, that is.

From vamps and witches to historical heroes, from futuristic scientists to paranormal corporate executives, from Canadian werewolves to off-world shifters, Kira has written about them all. Manlove has sparked hot and heavy in many of her plots, but Kira also finds a lucky lady to keep the sexy heroes company from time to time. While Scotland remains her favorite place in the world, Kira is constantly in search of new adventures to add to the creative primordial ooze where her best stories are born.

 

Author on Facebook

Author on Goodreads

Author’s Website


Publisher on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok: @changelingpress

Save 15% off any order at ChangelingPress.com with code RABT15




RABT Book Tours & PR
Reading Time:
Virtual Book Tour: Circus Bim Bom by Cliff Lovette #historical #fiction #coldwar #interview #giveaway #rabtbooktours @RABTBookTours
4:00 AM0 Comments

 

 


A Cold War Adventure


Historical Fiction/Cold War Fiction w/romance subplots

Date Published: 03-01-2026

Publisher: Bim Bom Books



There are no accidents in life, only opportunities wearing different clothes."

When the first privately owned Soviet circus arrived in 1990 America as the Soviet Empire unraveled, its elite performers expected to build cultural bridges through spectacular shows. Instead, this prestigious troupe faced a perilous journey through Cold War America.

Circus director Yuri had to navigate treacherous waters where American mobsters, Soviet agents, and political forces circled like predators. Young aerialist Anton dreamed of becoming a clown against his family's wishes, while forbidden romances and unexpected connections bloomed between Soviet performers and Americans who saw past the ideological divide. As high-stakes conspiracies threatened to tear the circus family apart, they had to choose between the authoritarian chains of home and the uncertain promise of freedom.

As The Ringmaster reminds us, "The best Soviet stories are like vodka—they burn with suffering, intoxicate with conflict, keep you stewing in reflection, and yearning for your heart's desire." This genre-bending tale explores whether human connection can transcend ideology—and whether storytelling can bridge the divides that separate us.

 



Interview

1. What is the hardest part of writing your books?

Getting started. I carried this story in banker’s boxes for over thirty years. Who was I to write a novel? I’d spent my career as an entertainment lawyer—negotiating contracts, not crafting prose. Imposter syndrome hit hard.

Then came the isolation. Law is collaborative—negotiations, conference calls, war rooms. Writing is you and a blinking cursor. No one to tell you if a scene works or falls flat.

Once I settled on The Ringmaster as narrator and captured his voice, momentum took over. But summoning the courage to begin after thirty years of “someday”? That was the hardest part.

 

2. What are your most played songs?

I’m a Classic Vinyl devotee. Give me Fleetwood Mac, Led Zeppelin, The Eagles, Steely Dan—the music I grew up with in the ’70s. There’s a reason those songs have endured: they’re storytelling set to music.

But writing Circus Bim Bom hijacked my playlists. The novel has over forty-five embedded links to period music and historical footage, and curating those tracks became an obsession. “Entrance of the Gladiators”—the iconic circus march—played on repeat while I wrote the circus’s arrival at Hershey Arena. “Dorogoi Dlinnoyu,” the haunting Russian folk song that became “Those Were the Days,” underscores scenes of nostalgia and loss. And Reagan’s “Tear Down This Wall” speech—I must have watched it a dozen times getting the chapter right.

I wanted readers to hear what the characters hear. The music isn’t supplementary—it’s part of the storytelling experience.

 

3. Do you have critique partners or beta readers?

Absolutely. I had about fifteen loyal and dedicated beta readers, and I relied on StoryOrigin’s beta reader management system to coordinate the process. Hats off to Evan Grow for building a supportive author platform.

The feedback loop was invaluable. Each reader caught something different—an inconsistency I missed, a character moment that didn’t land, a historical detail that needed more grounding. I made substantial improvements based on their input.

Here’s one example that changed the entire reader experience: multiple beta readers told me they were struggling to keep track of over two dozen characters. That feedback led me to create the animated character avatars on my companion website at bimbombookclub.com. Each avatar introduces their character without spoilers, giving readers a fun and entertaining way to refresh their memories. What started as a problem became one of the story’s most distinctive features. I’ve learned to embrace reader feedback rather than defend my original choices.

 

4. What book are you reading now?

I just picked up Gavin Newsom’s Young Man in a Hurry: A Memoir of Discovery. I’m interested in how political figures use storytelling to frame their personal narratives—the craft of memoir overlaps more with fiction than most people realize. You’re still making choices about what to include, what to omit, and how to structure revelation.

And as someone who writes about a period when empires crumbled and ordinary people had to navigate forces beyond their control, I’m drawn to stories about the intersection of personal identity and political power. That tension—between who you are and the systems you operate within—is at the heart of Circus Bim Bom.

 

5. How did you start your writing career?

As an attorney, I’d been writing my entire career—contracts, legal memoranda, briefs. But fiction? That started with a compulsion I couldn’t shake.

In 1991, I was the lowest attorney on the totem pole at an entertainment law firm in Atlanta. I got the clients no one else wanted. In walks this long-haired road manager named Bobby Liberman, telling me the unlikely story of a Soviet circus he’d road-managed—a hundred and twenty performers from behind the Iron Curtain. It was the sort of fantastical story I would have made up, except it was true.

I collected everything for three decades—newspaper clippings, performance programs, interviews. My late friend David Rams badgered me to write it. He was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer and he urged me—no, insisted—that I finally put the story on the page. When the pandemic arrived, I had no more excuses.

 

6. Tell us about your next release.

Circus Bim Bom: The Great Escape arrives late 2026. Book One ends at a critical turning point—I won’t spoil it, but readers will understand why the story demanded to be told in two parts.

The Great Escape picks up where we leave off. The stakes rise, choices become harder, the forces circling our characters grow more dangerous, and the question posed in the first book—can human connection transcend the barriers that divide us?—is put to the ultimate test.



About the Author

 

 Cliff Lovette is a father, storyteller, and dog lover living in Sandy Springs, Georgia. For over 40 years, he practiced entertainment law, serving as Senior Vice President at LaFace Records and representing artists including Usher and Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes. His passion for bridging historical divides led him to co-produce a groundbreaking reconciliation event between descendants of Buffalo Soldiers and Lakota Native Americans. In 1990, when Bobby Liberman—road manager for the first privately owned Soviet circus touring America—became his client, Cliff discovered the true story that inspired this debut duology.


Contact Links

Website

Facebook

Goodreads

TikTok: @ringmaster606

YouTube: @TheRingmaster-n7y


Purchase Links


Author's Edition 

books.by/bim-bom-books 

The Author's Edition comes with:

• Signed bookplate

• Digital circus poster

• Charter Bim Bom Book Club Membership

• Exclusive access to "Rabbit Hole" chapters


eBook and Paperback

Amazon





RABT Book Tours & PR
Reading Time:

Monday, April 6, 2026

Book Blitz: A Cowboy's Dilemma by E. Joe Brown #giveaway #western #historical #fiction #rabtbooktours @RABTBookTours
10:30 PM0 Comments



Western Historical Fiction

Date Published: 08-19-2025

Publisher: Artemesia Publishing, LLC



As the Kelly Can Saga continues, Charlie and his wife, Susan, must deal with continued conflict as they attempt to grow their fledgling Kelly Oil Company. Like many other oilmen, Charlie and his partner, Hank Thomas, want to acquire oil and mineral rights to the Osage Nation’s land in northern Oklahoma. This leads them to confrontations with an adversary from their recent past. Susan’s life is imperiled by those evil characters. How will her cowboy come to her rescue and deal with dangerous direct threats on their lives? Charlie rapidly steps up to the challenge as any past Top Hand at the world-famous Miller’s 101 Ranch would.

 


About the Author



E. Joe Brown is an award-winning author of novels, short stories, and memoirs. His current projects include a series of historical fiction novels set in his native Oklahoma. Publication of the first book in the series is scheduled for August 2022. His memoir ‘Mickey and Me’ about meeting his hero, Mickey Mantle, is now featured in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Joe currently serves as President of New Mexico Westerners, an Advisor to the SWW Board of Directors, and is a member of Western Writers of America and Military Writers Society of America. 


He supports his love of music and performance through active membership in the International Western Music Association. He served on the organization’s board of directors for three years. In 2013, Governor Susanna Martinez appointed him a New Mexico Music Commissioner.


 Veterans Portrait Project, Military, USAF


Photo Courtesy of
Stacy Pearsall's
Veterans Portrait Project


Joe concluded his lifetime military and civil service careers upon retirement on June 30, 2010. An exciting multi-faceted career of firsts included leading the USAF Range Instrumentation Team to aid the original NASA Space Shuttle program. His team helped create the Shuttle Worldwide Network and supported the first six missions of Space Shuttle Columbia. As the Air Force Flight Test Center Project Manager, he guided the design, construction, and implementation of the Benefield Anechoic Facility on Edwards AFB. The facility tests state-of-the-art electronic warfare systems in a secure environment. His final assignment was in direct support of the two-star Major General at Edwards AFB where he advised on strategic planning to assure future readiness to test USAF and Department of Defense weapons systems. 


An alumnus of the Oklahoma State University College of Engineering, Joe continued his engineering education during both his military and civil service careers. He completed coursework at the University of Colorado, Georgia Institute of Technology, George Washington University, University of Tennessee, Chapman University, and the University of California at Los Angeles. He later completed a BS in Business Management at Phoenix University and the Executive MBA program with a Strategic Planning emphasis from Webster University.


Joe has been married to his wife Linda for over fifty years, and their sons have given them five beautiful grandchildren.

Contact Links




RABT Book Tours & PR
Reading Time:
Book Blitz: Tilly and the Wisdom Trials by David Tra #childrensbook #fantasy #adventure #rabtbooktours @critterquestaca @RABTBookTours
10:00 PM0 Comments


Children’s Fantasy Adventure, Educational Fiction / Learning Adventure,

Date Published: February 27, 2026




In this imaginative and heartwarming picture book, Tilly and the Wisdom Trials introduces young readers to a world hidden beneath the prairie - a place where learning is a magical adventure and knowledge is the key to unlocking ancient secrets.

Tilly, a clever and kind-hearted young badger, discovers a mossy wooden gate hidden among vines and roots, setting her on an unexpected path: the legendary Wisdom Trials. With her loyal companions, the Brainy Bunch, she journeys through a series of challenges that test more than just book smarts. From riddle gates and logic tunnels to kindness puzzles and courage quests, each trial demands wit, empathy, and commitment.

Written in lyrical rhyme and brimming with wonder, Tilly and the Wisdom Trials is the first book in the Critter Quest Academy Collection - a series that blends adventure, problem-solving, and joyful learning in an underground world of whimsical crifters. Ideal for fans of The Questioneers and The Tale of Despereaux, this story celebrates curiosity, resilience, and the magic of a mind set on discovery.

 

About the Author

David Tra is a computer scientist, educational game developer, and children’s author who creates story-driven learning experiences that blend games, books, and curiosity. He is the creator of Critter Quest Academy, an interactive educational platform and book series that turns problem-solving into adventure.

David previously developed the educational math games El Mathador and Treasure Math, helping students build confidence through play. He is also the author of The Star of Shanraz, a novel for teen readers. His latest work focuses on the Prairie City Adventures and Critter Quest Academy books, beginning with Tilly and the Wisdom Trials, the featured launch title that introduces young readers to a whimsical underground world where questions, puzzles, and curiosity guide the journey.


Contact Links

Website

"X"

Bluesky

TikTok

Instagram

Facebook

Pinterest


Purchase Links

Amazon

Barnes and Noble


RABT Book Tours & PR
Reading Time:
Virtual Audiobook Tour: Early Snow by Kevin Wolf #audiobook #giveaway #mystery #interview #rabtbooktours @RABTBookTours
7:26 AM0 Comments

Mystery

Date Published: February 18, 2026

Narrator: Greg O'Donahue

Run time: 5 hours 20 minutes.



EARLY SNOW

Odyssey Pruit paints pictures of the ghosts and spirits she saw in the halls of an old hotel where she worked ten years before. GUY HOGAN doesn’t believe in ghosts. Hogan is hired to guard Odyssey’s pictures for her first art show in the same old hotel. When an early blizzard closes the roads, knocks out the power and telephone, Hogan is trapped in the hotel with Odyssey’s quirky fans. When imps and ghouls make their presence known, Hogan questions his doubts, and the answer could be murder.





Interview


What is the hardest part of writing your books?

It seems time is a constant adversary. I’ve yet to conquer the discipline of sitting down and producing words, then sentences, then paragraphs that become pages. And I'm always thinking of the next thing(s) I want to write



What are your most played songs?

Amarillo by Morning- George Strait

Come Monday- Jimmy Buffett

The Road Goes on Forever- Robert Earl Keen

How Great Thou Art-Carrie Underwood



Do you have critique partners or beta readers?

I found a critique group early. It helped to share my work with others and listen to their comments, advice, and feedback. I facilitate a weekly Zoom writers’ group meeting. Besides the feedback, I value the accountability to others. There is a certain intimacy that comes from sharing your writing and that has brought so many valued friends.



What book are you reading now?

I just finished CJ Box’s newest, CROSSROADS. I’ve read everything of his. Last night I read the first chapters of John Grisham's CAMINO WINDS. And one of James Scott Bell’s craft books, WRITE YOUR NOVEL FROM THE MIDDLE, is on my desk.



How did you start your writing career?

I can point to the exact moment I committed to becoming an author. I was in the airport in Detroit, headed home after a week of work. It was shortly after 911. In the time when we never knew if we would be in security lines for two hours or breeze through in ten minutes. The lines were short, and I was on the concourse waiting for a flight home. I had finished a forgettable paperback, couldn’t find anything interesting on the bookshelf in the airport shops, so I opened my laptop and typed out the opening lines of what I was sure would be an international best-seller and coming blockbuster movie. I still remember the opening line: “She was the kind of woman men noticed and he was being paid to notice.” It got worse after that. I know. I read it.



Tell us about your next release.

I’m going international. In 2026, ek-2 Publishing will release two books from my backlist in German. I’m excited about that, and we’re negotiating for other titles. I’m planning on publishing COMMANCHE COUNTY, the sequel to the Tony Hillerman Award Winner, this summer.

 

 

 Kevin Wolf is an award-winning Mystery and Western author. His books include Trailridge (2024), The Homeplace, winner of the 2015 Tony Hillerman Prize and the 2016 Strand Critics Award finalist for Best Debut Mystery. His short story Belthanger received the 2021 Spur Award for Best Short Fiction and his novel, The Bootheel was a 2024 Peacemaker Award finalist.

The legends and landscape of the West are evident in everything he writes. His newest novel, Trailridge, is set against the grandeur of Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park and the 1982 Lawn Lake Flood. Those who visit Rocky often or have chosen the national park for their once-in-a-lifetime destination will recognize the mountains, valleys, rivers, and the twists and turns of Trailridge as this story races to its climax.

In The Homeplace, a schoolboy hero returns after sixteen years to solve a murder in a windswept, dying town on the eastern plains of Colorado. In his short story Belthanger, readers are given a glimpse of a 1950s small town, soon to be bypassed by the new Interstate Highway System, and the drama that unfolds on the town’s darkened streets one night. The BootHeel is a coming-of-age tale of a teenage orphan and an aging gunman as they follow a treasure map into Mexico as the nineteenth century draws to its end.

Kevin Wolf is a member of Western Writers of America, Mystery Writers of America, and serves as Vice President of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. He facilitates a weekly critique group for other writers. The great-grandson of Colorado homesteaders, he enjoys fly fishing, old Winchesters, and almost every 1950’s Western movie. He lives in Estes Park, CO with his loving and patient wife.


Contact Links

Website

Facebook

Goodreads

Instagram


Purchase Links

Audible

Apple



RABT Book Tours & PR
Reading Time:
Teaser: The Yellow Hair by Dwight Holing #excerpt #mystery #western #nativeamerican #fiction #comingsoon #rabtbooktours @RABTBookTours
6:51 AM0 Comments



A Nick Drake Novel, Book 10


Mystery, Contemporary Western, Native American Literature

Date Published: 04-30-2026

Publisher: Jackdaw Press




New Badge. Old Blood.

Nick Drake traded his past for the Sheriff’s star, but Harney County doesn’t do election honeymoons. His tenure kicks off with a double homicide staged as a murder-suicide—a lie Nick isn't buying. As he digs into the crime’s rotting core, the rookie Sheriff finds himself fighting a war on two fronts: a lethal learning curve with unproven deputies and a political recall designed to bury him. In the high lonesome where secrets kill, Nick must strike first and strike hard. Because in this office, the only thing shorter than his term is his life expectancy.

 


Excerpt


Chapter 1

 

Potholes on a road I’d never traveled before grabbed at the wheels like a bad conscience seeking redemption. It led to a ranch east of Burns surrounded by withered hayfields scratched out of a dead sea of sage scrub. Tumbleweeds hung on rusty strands of sagging barbed wire. The wind-scoured house and barn looked ready to give up the ghost. If the call that brought me out proved true, the owners already had.

A brand new 1980 Cadillac Sedan de Ville was parked out front. The color made me think of the old saw about red skies in the morning. The driver’s door opened and released a cloud of cigar smoke followed by a big man wearing a pearl snap-button shirt and stockman boots. He set a summertime Stetson atop his crew cut and eyed the seven-point gold star on the door of my rig.

“I take it you’re the new sheriff,” he said. “I heard Harney County had a special election to fill the boots of the old one who got hisself killed.”

“Nick Drake,” I said. “And you are?”

“Red Caldera.” He chuckled. “Yup, I know, heckuva moniker. My folks idea at being clever. Pleased to make your acquaintance, though the situation inside is none too pleasing. Couple been dead a week, be my guess.”

When I didn’t make a move toward the house, he clicked his cheek. “I woulda thought you’d charge right in, but maybe you don’t know you’re s’posed to on account you’re new to sheriffing.”

“If they’re dead like you say, what I need to know first is why you went inside uninvited.”

The straw cowboy hat reared back as he aimed his double chin at me. “Now, hold it right there. I didn’t do nothing wrong. I’m the one called it in and I’m the one been cooling my heels on a hotter than a firecracker morning waiting for you to show up.”

 

 

About the Author


Dwight Holing is the award-winning author of twenty books, including the bestselling Nick Drake Mysteries and the popular Jack McCoul Capers. He is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and Western Writers of America. He lives beside a coastal river in California with his wife and two dogs who’d rather swim than walk.


Contact Links

Website

Facebook

Goodreads

Instagram


Purchase Links

https://mybook.to/TheYellowHair

Amazon

Apple

B&N

Kobo


RABT Book Tours & PR
Reading Time: