This morning, I have a psychological thriller to share!Check out Altered, read an excerpt from the novel and my thoughts on the book, learn about author Rob Kaufman!

Title: Altered
Author: Rob Kaufman
Publisher: Independent
Pages: 276
Genre: Psychological Suspense Thriller

 

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about the book

When Frank Devlin walks into Justin Wright’s office, the renowned New York City clinical psychiatrist decides to take on one of the most challenging cases of his career.

After their first session, it’s obvious Frank has multiple personalities (“alters”) and each one couldn’t be more different than the other. Justin must get to know each individual alter in order to discover the best route to take so that Frank can live a full and happy life. He must also delve into Frank’s past, one filled with mystery, darkness and trauma — the true causes behind his personality split.

As Justin deals with Frank’s issues, he’s also confronted with his own demons: the kidnapping of Michael, his youngest son, seven years earlier… a wife he adores, Mandy, who refuses to accept her son is gone… a constant struggle with his oldest son, Dylan, who was watching over Michael the day the boy was taken. And his problems get worse as, unbeknownst to Justin, Frank and his alters are secretly weaving themselves into his life in ways that will affect the Wright family forever.

A suspense-filled story driven by emotion, angst and the ultimate revenge, “Altered” brings readers down a twisted path of uncertainty and mind games ­— leaving them shocked, heartbroken and questioning what could possibly come next…
“Crazy-good plot lines and shocking information that had me gasping for breath at every turn!” – Anne F., Amazon Vine Reviewer

“It was an amazing ride with tension building throughout until the final twist ending.” – Patricia G., NetGalley Reviewer

Release Date: November 15, 2022

Soft Cover: ISBN:979-8358757523; 329 pages; $13.99; Kindle $7.99; FREE on Kindle Unlimited

read an excerpt

The frigid breeze whipped across his face. He ran up the city blocks, wiping melted snowflakes from his eyelids so he could see where he was going. By the time he reached 49^th Street, he was out of breath and had to stop. He leaned against the steel pole that held both the street signs and traffic lights. After a few deep breaths, he wiped the liquified flurries off his cheeks and walked as quickly as he could until he reached 50th.

He made a right off Park and because the office was so close to the corner, he could see a glow of light coming from the window. Breathing a sigh of relief, he went through the building’s glass front door and made a quick left. He didn’t stop long enough to ring the bell to let anyone know he was about to enter. Trying to catch his breath, he opened the office door.

The first thing he saw was a man holding a gun up to his own temple.

He yelled, and before he could say a coherent word, he watched the man turn toward him and heard a loud bang. And then another.

His legs wobbled, then his head banged on the wooden floor. He brought his hand up to his throat and felt warm liquid oozing from a hole in his neck. He was surprised at the lack of pain and how rapidly numbness was spreading throughout his body. His throat felt like it was swelling up, closing his airway. He fought out a gasp and heard a soft gurgle. Did he just make that noise? Was blood filling his throat?

He tried to take another breath and heard the same sloshing liquid. His mind went void of thought, his body, frozen.

Suddenly there was muffled yelling, unintelligible screams. Something that felt like a hand cupped the back of his head and soft skin brushed his cheek. As time passed, seconds… minutes... hours… he couldn’t be sure, everything faded except a weightlessness enshrouding him, a gentle sense of calm. He closed his eyes and listened to the blood pump, with each heartbeat, through the opening in his neck.

From some obscure corner of his mind, reality edged its way back in and he struggled to open his eyes one last time.

Through the haze of his dissolving vision, he saw a familiar face hovering over him. Anguish twisted it, and as if from a long distance away, he heard the cries and moans falling from the man's mouth.

He wanted to cry, grieve for them both, but once again his heavy eyelids fell down. The weeping and mumbling became a fading hum and then ultimately silence.

His final thought was not about this man who sobbed above him, his killer or the “why” behind what just happened. It was the hope that he’d see the loved one he’d lost — a hope that made him smile inside as a comforting warmth enveloped his body like the most snug of blankets warmed by the sun itself.

 

my review

Altered Gives Psychological Thriller Fans A Lot to Love. This novel is the first book I have read by Rob Kaufman, but it will not be the last. While the story seems a little predictable at times, there are twists and turns and deep, realistic feeling emotional/psychological elements at play that keep readers doubting, guessing, and engaged in the plot and the characters to the end and beyond. 

 

Kaufman Creates a Wonderful Cast of Characters and a Psychological Plot. The author does a beautiful job creating an exciting cast of well-developed, realistically flawed, interconnected characters. The psychological elements are vital--but never feel clinical or forced. Although the plot and characters are complex, the storyline and dialogue and never confusing or overly complicated. 

 

Would I Recommend Altered by Rob Kaufman? Altered is a well-written, well-developed thriller with realistic feeling characters that interest and keep readers engaged well past the book's final pages. I didn't love the ending of this novel--but I am certainly invested enough in the characters and their futures to gladly pick up the second book of the series as soon as it's released. If you enjoy a solid psychological thriller that keeps readers guessing (and second-guessing)--Altered (and its anticipated sequel) should be on your reading list.

 

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about the author

Rob Kaufman novels are known for having characters with whom people can relate, while at the same time, bringing them on a journey from which most people would crumble.

His degree in Psychology was the first step toward getting beneath the surface of the people in his life. What followed was a lifelong search for what makes people tick – what forces them to become evil when deep down they are yearning for love. Rob’s characters walk this search with him, deep into the human psyche, creating psychological thrillers from everyday events.

Rob’s books are perfect for those who enjoy thrillers but also need strong emotion to keep them deeply involved with the characters.

“All my books hit home for me,” says Rob. “There are always parts that make me laugh out loud as I write them… and many, too many, that make me cry. And the great thing is, I’m finding that many readers of my books experience the same emotions.”

Rob’s books receive both national and international praise with most reviews noting that his storylines are extremely “unique” and “sobering” and the twists and turns are “masterful”.

 

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This morning, I have a psychological thriller in our book blitz spotlight!  Check out Hot House and learn about author Lisa Towles.

E&A Investigations, Book 1

Psychological Thriller

Date Published: June 15, 2022

Publisher: Indies United Publishing

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 When a former CIA operative and private investigator Mari Ellwyn starts digging into the blackmail case of a federal appellate judge, she becomes targeted by a van following her, threatening notes in her mailbox, and a breach of her home. Teaming up with seasoned investigator and former detective, Derek Abernathy, the crime-savvy pair begin looking into the wrongful death of a mentally-ill college student, Sophie Michaud, as well as two journalists – one dead, one missing, who were writing a story on the dead college student with allegations of her connection to the federal judge. The two investigators must uncover the truth about Sophie Michaud before her killer makes them their next target. But more importantly, Mari needs to find her missing father and reconcile her broken past and family.

Praise for Hot House

"The plot is propelled forward by the clever use of suspense, measured action, and ingeniously written conflict. It is a moving and delightful read with cinematic scenes and characters that will stick with readers for a long after they turn the last page." - The Book Commentary

"An exceptional read with a powerfully unexpected conclusion, leaving the door more than ajar for a follow-up. This will attract audiences both within and beyond the thriller and mystery genres." - Midwest Book Review

"Towles has produced a knockout novel with Hot House. Nowhere will thriller fans find a more engaging keep-you-on-your-toes read." - Literary Titan, 5 Star Review

"A dark, edge-of-the-seat thriller. Highly recommended!" - Chanticleer Reviews, 5 Star Review

"This meticulously constructed, remarkable mystery deftly explores people's darkest flaws while revealing hard truths about the hidden workings of the world. A fast-paced and psychologically astute thriller." - Prairies Book Review

  About the Author

 Lisa Towles is an award-winning crime novelist and a passionate speaker on the topics of fiction writing, creativity, and Strategic Self Care. Hot House is her 8th publication and won a GOLD Literary Titan Award for Fiction. Lisa's last four books each won numerous literary awards, and she continues to write consistently while working full time in the tech industry.  Her next book, The Ridders, is a political thriller that will be released on November 30, 2022. She also serves on the board of a Bay Area nonprofit called Bridgegood. Lisa is an active member and frequent panelist/speaker of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and International Thriller Writers. She has an MBA in IT Management and lives in Oakland, California.

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This morning, I have a psychological thriller in our book blitz spotlight.  Check out Emergence and learn about author Ellie Beals!

Psychological Suspense, Psychological Thriller

Published: January 1021

Publisher: Tellwell Talent

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It starts with Just Watching. But danger emerges when Just Watching ends.

When the “wild child” Xavier first encounters Cass Harwood and her dogs in the woods of West Quebec, he is enthralled. Unknown to them, he Just Watches them in a lengthy ongoing surveillance, before finally staging a meeting. His motives are uncertain – even to him.

The intersection of the lives of Cass, a competitive dog-handler, her dogs, her cousin Lori and the complex and enigmatic Xavier, leads them all into a spiral of danger. It starts when Just Watching ends - when Cass and her crew encounter tragedy in the bush. Xavier’s involvement in the tragedy, unknown to Cass, sets off a chain of potentially lethal events, that begin in the dark woods of Lac Rouge, when hiking, skiing, hunting, trapping, marijuana grow-ops, and pedophilia, collide. It matures in the suburbs of both Ottawa and Baltimore, and culminates back in Lac Rouge, when danger arrives uninvited at Cass’ isolated cabin in the woods. In the night. In the cold. In the heavily-falling snow. Xavier observes it all. His motives are again uncertain, but his propensity for action is not.

Join Xavier, Lori, Cass and the realistic and compelling dogs that are essential players in this dark drama, as their fates converge in a deadly loop of revenge, fear, guilt, and hope.

Our cabin doesn’t have a basement. It is raised on cinderblocks, and is only maybe a foot off the ground…That has allowed me to have an excellent place to hide things I don’t want Stefan to know about. There are boards underneath where the kitchen is, that I’ve had to explore when working with insulation. I now have my own special board, where I’ve hollowed out a space where I can hide stuff. My secret stuff includes extra notebooks with the drawings of Cassie and the dogs, that would reveal how much time I spend observing them. But it also includes special stuff I’ve liberated, that I don’t want Stefan to know about.

Liberation is a game Stefan taught me when I was little. He told me that good equipment deserves to be well cared-for. When he was teaching me how to Just Watch, he’d find hunting stands where we could watch campers, fishermen, and hunters. And he would explain when they did things right, and when they didn’t. Not looking after your equipment is not right. So when people were careless, and particularly when they were careless and drunk, or even better - careless, drunk and asleep ( which happens pretty often!) he taught me how to do a super-quiet “leopard crawl”, which means crawling really low to the ground on your belly. And I would have to leopard crawl to liberate the good equipment. It was scary and very fun! I got us lots of good stuff. As far as Stefan knew, it all went into a big wooden chest in the book room.

But I have liberated some stuff on my own – things I never told Stefan about. And that stuff goes into my hiding space under the house. Most of it is small stuff. My favorite little liberation was a system for carrying water in a pack with a hose you can sip it through. But the main thing, the big thing in my hiding space, is the rifle I liberated a year ago, when Stefan was away.

I was Just Watching a little clearing off the main road where hunters often met up with each other. It was early in the season, and I was there before any one arrived. But as the sun rose, four SUVs showed up. They were all big, expensive looking vehicles. Six men got out, all dressed in in the kind of clothes that hunters from the city wear and that Stefan makes fun of. One of the men, who I think maybe was younger than the others, acted really excited. He reminded me of how bullshit dogs like Zeke try to act tough but end up wagging their tails really fast and low and licking the mouths of the no-bullshit dogs. He was the guy with the biggest SUV. While they were getting ready to go, he took two rifles out of the car and showed them to the other men. There was a lot of discussion. I’m pretty sure they were deciding which one he should use that day. They decided on the fancier, newer-looking one, with a powerful-looking scope. The guy put the other one back in the SUV…

It never occurred to me to liberate it. Breaking into a car was not something Stefan had taught me to do. But the guy never locked his vehicle! I couldn’t believe it!

About the Author

Dogs have been a constant in Ellie’s life from the time she was a child. In the mid-1990s, she started to train and compete in Obedience with Golden Retrievers, with considerable success. In 2014, she had the highest-rated Canadian obedience dog (Fracas – upon whom Chuff is modeled), and her husband David Skinner had the second-rated dog. During a ten-year period, both Ellie and David were regularly ranked among Canada’s Top Ten Obedience competitors. They have an active obedience coaching practice in Ottawa, having retired from their previous professional careers in order to spend more time playing with their dogs and their students.

Like Cass and Noah Harwood, Ellie and David have a log cabin in the wilds of West Quebec, where Ellie is an avid wilderness recreationist, constantly accompanied by her dogs. As Covid19 spread in March of 2020, she and David temporarily shut down their coaching practice and retreated to their cabin, where Emergence was written. Lac Rouge is not the real name of the lake on which they live. Everything else about the locale for Emergence is faithful to the character of the gentle Laurentian mountains of West Quebec.

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 Today, I have a psychological thriller series in our book spotlight.  Check out the books of The Bourbon Country series, learn about author Chris Bostic and enter for a chance to win a prize in the book tour giveaway at the end of this post.

When their Kentucky bourbon tour takes a turn for the worse, two engaged couples join up with strangers to seek shelter in the ruins of an old distillery. Grace encounters more than abandoned spirits on the decaying property, bringing her semi-comfortable world crashing down.
Tensions pull at the group, splintering the couples into teams. Only it’s hard for Grace to know what side to be on when bonds are tested, and opposites no longer attract. Questions abound. Who really are the strangers they paired up with? Should she break convenient bonds for a risky one? Then again, does it even matter if they don’t make it out alive?
Please be advised – The Bourbon Country Series features fast-paced adult psychological thrillers where sexual assault, PTSD, self-blame, and functional alcoholism combine to form a potent blend. Recommended for mature audiences, ages 18+

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It’s been six long months since Grace’s world turned upside down. She unexpectedly finds herself back in bourbon country with Vince, dredging up memories barely concealed. Anxiety builds when a mysterious stranger shadows them, but it’s her own indecisiveness that first leads to misadventure.
Just like a flight of unfamiliar bourbons, Grace can only wonder if each of her trials will unleash a rot gut burn or a warm Kentucky Hug. More likely a mixture of both.
Please be advised – The Bourbon Country Series features fast-paced adult psychological thrillers where sexual assault, PTSD, self-blame, and functional alcoholism combine to form a potent blend. Recommended for mature audiences, ages 18+

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After another nine solid months, things couldn’t be going much better for Grace. Life has settled into a comfortable routine. So, of course, she’s headed back to bourbon country with Vince. Maybe not the destination wedding she’d been dreaming about more recently, but the venue couldn’t be any more perfect. Or so they thought.
Wedding day should be a joyous occasion for the couple, but nothing is ever easy for them—especially when a manhunt locks down the venue and spirits flow from sleeping barrels.
Please be advised – The Bourbon Country Series features fast-paced adult psychological thrillers where sexual assault, PTSD, self-blame, and functional alcoholism combine to form a potent blend. Recommended for mature audiences, ages 18+

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About the Author

Chris Bostic is the author of exciting adventure thrillers. From his home in suburban St. Louis, he turns family vacations and Boy Scout trips into gripping survival novels. The Northwoods Trilogy was his first series, with the setting chosen thanks to a BSA High Adventure trip to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Then came his SciFi series The Savage Horde, as well as a trio of standalone novels. 

He's now rolled out a new series set in the Smoky Mountains.
Chris continues to build on his brand of epic adventure books. This year featured a three book set - The Bushwhackers Series - set in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The books are: Prepper Mountain, Shadow Warriors, and Jailbreak.

 Then came another three book set, The Bourbon Country Series, to close out the year. Whiskey Thief, Kentucky Hug, and Barrel Strength mark a departure from teen fiction into a mature audience blend of psychological thriller and romantic suspense.

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Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!

$10 Amazon