Mystery
I am sorry I am so late in getting the winners posted from all the great contests Novel Reaction held this last month. Life and time got away from me but I am happy to post the winners today. All the winners were chosen using Random.org
First, we have the winner of the nerf gun and Lone Defender by Shirlee McCoy is…..Liz, who’s favorite murder weapon is “Poison, I think. But I always was an Agatha Christie fan. Not up on current poisons, but I’ve read about an author who keeps a poison garden, so I could nip over if in search of one.”
Second we have winners of the autographed copies of Valerie Hansen’s novels Nightwatch and Face of Danger. Because my posting was confusing on the giveaway I have included everyone who commented on any of Valerie’s posting into the contest, the winners are……Zorn, Angela, Judy B and Carmen Ferreiro-Esteban.
Finally, we have the winner of Ruling Passion by Alyxandra Harvey is…..Buffy.
All winners will be contacted by email regarding their prizes. Thanks everyone for participating and stay tuned because Novel Reaction has more great contests planned for this month.
Novel Reaction is excited to welcome author Dana Mentink as part of our Murder and Mayhem celebration!
Dana Mentink lives in California where the weather is golden and the cheese is divine. Her family includes two girls (affectionately nicknamed Yogi and Boo Boo.) Papa Bear works for the fire department and he met Dana doing a dinner theater production of The Velveteen Rabbit. Ironically, their parts were husband and wife.
Dana is a 2009 American Christian Fiction Writers Book of the Year finalist for romantic suspense and an award winner in the Pacific Northwest Writers Literary Contest. Her October release, Betrayal in the Badlands, won a 2010 Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice Award.
She spent her college years competing in speech and debate tournaments all around the country. Besides writing, she busies herself teaching Sunday school and working in second/third grade combination class. Mostly, she loves to be home with her family, a dog with social anxiety problems, a chubby box turtle and a quirky parakeet.
Dana loves to hear from her readers via her website (www.danamentink.com) or her Facebook reader page.
Hello, Novel Reaction! How nice to be here. My name is Dana Mentink and I write inspirational romantic suspense for Harlequin. This month marks my seventh book with them, entitled Buried Truth. It’s the second of three books set in the South Dakota Badlands. Sounds like a good locale for a ‘run for your life’ kind of adventure? I thought so. It’s a place of extremes, from violent summer lightning storms to relentless winter winds. Rich in fossils, poor in nutrient rich soils and nonetheless home to hundreds of species of animals.
When in the planning stages of writing a suspense novel, the setting is always foremost in my mind. This is not to say an author couldn’t write a rip snorting novel that takes place in regular old suburbia, but I find the more hostile and unusual the setting, the more interesting the story. To that end, I’ve crashed a plane in the remote Cascade Mountains, hidden characters in Alaska just shy of the Arctic Circle and stranded people in the Arizona desert. I find it works just as well to set a comedy in an out of the way place, as I did in an eBook I wrote about a city slicker who has to manage her aunt’s trailer park in Seepwillow, Arizona, a hundred miles from nowhere. The setting becomes a character itself, either an antagonist to the hero or a backdrop which can reveal the roots of the character’s psyche.
So what am I busy thinking about now? Another series set in the Guatemalan jungle, or maybe a historical which starts during a horrific journey to the rugged California gold fields via the Panama crossing. Either way, you can be sure those poor characters will prove their worth or die trying as they navigate their fictional world. The harsher the setting, the better the story will be!
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Thanks Dana for sharing with us about the importance of setting. I have to admit I picked up her latest novel Buried Truth based on the desolate looking cover (review to follow). Living in the extreme desert of Arizona I am always intrigued by novels set in a desolate location, wondering how the characters will survive not only the crazy killer after them but the extreme elements also.
In the novel Turbulence by Dana Mentink, Maddie Lambert is fighting against all odds to stay alive after a her plane goes down in the snow covered mountains. Not only is her life at stake, but as is the life of the three other survivors of the plane crash and her father won’t live if she can’t make it back to civilization and soon. The plane they had been on was carrying some very precious cargo with it: her father’s much needed transplant organ. When Maddie boarded the plane and saw her ex-fiance aboard, she knew it was going to be a long flight, she just didn’t know exactly how long it would take them. The pilot whispers some devastating news on his dying breath: his coffee was drugged. Dr. Paul Ford, Maddie’s ex-fiance, and the three other survivors are ecstatic to see help arrive shortly after the wreck, but when he pulls out a gun and starts shooting, it quickly becomes a race for all of their lives. They are forced to flee through ice tunnels, hiking in below freezing temperatures, and trying to escape from the man trying to kill them. It is a fight for their life, and the ultimate test of whether or not they could still love each other, regardless of what happened in the past.
I really enjoyed the suspense all the way throughout the novel! It kept me reading until I finally put the book down a few hours after picking it up to read “just a couple of pages”. I didn’t like how long it took Maddie to finally forgive Paul, but I really enjoyed the thrilling end to the novel! I was completely surprised by who the bad guy ended up being! I also really loved the fact that Maddie didn’t wait around to be saved, she was constantly thinking of how to get out of each of her terrifying situations. The book, overall, was a very thrilling read and I loved the perfect combination of mystery and romance!
You can read an excerpt here.
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Title: Turbulence
Author: Dana Mentink
Format: Paperback, eBook
Page Nos.: 244
ISBN: 978-0373444304
Publisher: Steeple Hill
Release Date: February 2011
Available for Purchase: Amazon, eHarlequin
Reviewer: Jillian
After years on the Denver Colorado Police department, Jane Perry decides to start her own PI agency. In Unrevealed by Laurel Dewey, Jane had seen so much crime and evil, she had become a very heavy drinker. She knew the only way to get away and stay away from the alcohol was to quit the force. She has some very interesting stories to tell. Laurel Dewey does a great job of going into descriptive detail for each of the crime scenes that Jane comes across. I love the way Jane’s mind works for figuring out the cases. Even though you think that Jane is cold and heartless, you find that through all her tough exterior, she still has a heart. The compassion she has in her stories for the victims and the offenders is heartwarming.I did enjoy these stories, although there is frequent use of the f* word. Laurel Dewey does a very good job with descriptive writing and so the crime scenes are very easy to visualize! I would recommend this book to those who don’t mind the swearing and some very descriptive scenes. I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone younger then adult age because of the scenes.
Jane Perry Series:
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Title: Unrevealed
Author: Laurel Dewey
Format: Paperback, eBook
Page Nos.: 96
ISBN: 978-1611880236
Publisher: The Story Plant
Release Date: October 4, 2011
Available for purchase: Amazon
Reviewer: Jocee
**I received a copy of this book from the Partners in Crime Tours but was not required to provide a review and it did not impact my review in any way.
