BOOK OFFER: Dying for Redemption
May. 7th, 2012 07:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
neadodsI know I've been chatty today, and that I owe writeups on Malice and the Mock Trial.
However, there's a time limit on this offer, so I want to get it out there. Author Chris Freeburn has given me copies of the Smashwords download code for a free ebook of her Dying for Redemption, an afterlife mystery that should be right up the alley of anyone who likes the Mary Stanton angelic lawyers series.
SMASHWORDS:
Two bullets in the back give PI Callous Demar an address change to Limbo, and life after death takes on a whole new meaning. Not wanting to indulge in his forced early retirement, Callous opens shop to help the recently murdered.
When a dame walks into his office, he thinks solving her murder will be a piece of cake, as his two prime suspects are the butler and the husband. He soon discovers the case is far more complicated than he suspected.
Callous finds his carefree attitude further challenged when he must also find the killer of his grandniece, whose murder might be tied to his own.
REVIEWING THE EVIDENCE:
DYING FOR REDEMPTION is the fascinating foundation of a new hardboiled-with-a-twist series. Callous Demar had been a private investigator until his assistant shot him twice in the back. But death wasn't what Callous expected it to be. Too full of the need to revenge his own murder to be fit for heaven and too decent to go straight to hell, Callous found himself in limbo with the rest of the unquiet souls.
Considering the alternatives, particularly one hot alternative, Callous figures he's not in a bad place to be. Souls in limbo can still visit the earth and interact with the living, until such time as they can come to peace... or they commit an unpardonable sin and take an instant express downwards. Those who can navigate between the two can make a long, decent afterlife for themselves, and that sounds just fine to Callous. So he sets up a new PI office, one where the recently murdered can solve their own crimes and find rest.
Things are going fine, or as fine as they can be with Denver, Callous' own murderer, hanging around and trying to tempt him into an unpardonable sin. Callous has the task of finding out who killed wealthy Willow Flannery, and so far the hardest part is remembering that what was considered polite in 1953 when Callous died isn't appropriate at all for 2003, when Willow's brakes failed.
But Callous' great-niece Abby has decided to become a private eye herself. One of her class assignments is to critique the handling of a cold case and of course she chooses the family crime. It's a fatal choice even 50 years later and soon Callous must decide which is more important -- saving his own soul or ushering Abby to Heaven and taking vengeance for both their murders.
As a fan of the afterlife detective shows Brimstone, and Randall and Hopkirk, Deceased, I had to go buy DYING FOR REDEMPTION and see how it stacked up. The answer is brilliantly. Three solidly-written mysteries (Willow's, Callous', and Abby's) intertwine seamlessly with Abby's rocky transition and the theological questions posed by Callous and Denver. The differing worldviews of those who died generations apart gives a superb twist on the 'wise mentor, raw recruit' buddy format.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes a good hardboiled whodunit or who likes to mull over the deeper theological questions. I can't wait for Freeburn to write the next installment.
FIRST SIX PEOPLE TO ASK IN COMMENTS GET THE FREE DOWNLOAD CODE
ETA: Don't be put off by the number of comments; there's some discussion going on.
However, there's a time limit on this offer, so I want to get it out there. Author Chris Freeburn has given me copies of the Smashwords download code for a free ebook of her Dying for Redemption, an afterlife mystery that should be right up the alley of anyone who likes the Mary Stanton angelic lawyers series.
SMASHWORDS:
Two bullets in the back give PI Callous Demar an address change to Limbo, and life after death takes on a whole new meaning. Not wanting to indulge in his forced early retirement, Callous opens shop to help the recently murdered.
When a dame walks into his office, he thinks solving her murder will be a piece of cake, as his two prime suspects are the butler and the husband. He soon discovers the case is far more complicated than he suspected.
Callous finds his carefree attitude further challenged when he must also find the killer of his grandniece, whose murder might be tied to his own.
REVIEWING THE EVIDENCE:
DYING FOR REDEMPTION is the fascinating foundation of a new hardboiled-with-a-twist series. Callous Demar had been a private investigator until his assistant shot him twice in the back. But death wasn't what Callous expected it to be. Too full of the need to revenge his own murder to be fit for heaven and too decent to go straight to hell, Callous found himself in limbo with the rest of the unquiet souls.
Considering the alternatives, particularly one hot alternative, Callous figures he's not in a bad place to be. Souls in limbo can still visit the earth and interact with the living, until such time as they can come to peace... or they commit an unpardonable sin and take an instant express downwards. Those who can navigate between the two can make a long, decent afterlife for themselves, and that sounds just fine to Callous. So he sets up a new PI office, one where the recently murdered can solve their own crimes and find rest.
Things are going fine, or as fine as they can be with Denver, Callous' own murderer, hanging around and trying to tempt him into an unpardonable sin. Callous has the task of finding out who killed wealthy Willow Flannery, and so far the hardest part is remembering that what was considered polite in 1953 when Callous died isn't appropriate at all for 2003, when Willow's brakes failed.
But Callous' great-niece Abby has decided to become a private eye herself. One of her class assignments is to critique the handling of a cold case and of course she chooses the family crime. It's a fatal choice even 50 years later and soon Callous must decide which is more important -- saving his own soul or ushering Abby to Heaven and taking vengeance for both their murders.
As a fan of the afterlife detective shows Brimstone, and Randall and Hopkirk, Deceased, I had to go buy DYING FOR REDEMPTION and see how it stacked up. The answer is brilliantly. Three solidly-written mysteries (Willow's, Callous', and Abby's) intertwine seamlessly with Abby's rocky transition and the theological questions posed by Callous and Denver. The differing worldviews of those who died generations apart gives a superb twist on the 'wise mentor, raw recruit' buddy format.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes a good hardboiled whodunit or who likes to mull over the deeper theological questions. I can't wait for Freeburn to write the next installment.
FIRST SIX PEOPLE TO ASK IN COMMENTS GET THE FREE DOWNLOAD CODE
ETA: Don't be put off by the number of comments; there's some discussion going on.
