This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The author will award a $20 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
Read an ExcerptIt’s the perfect score—stealing valuable data from a VIP in cryo-freeze midway through a decades-long interstellar crossing. If it works, Kara will have enough money to buy what she’s always wanted—a Captaincy.
But with the rest of the crew and the cargo of one hundred thousand colonists still frozen, Kara and her accomplice, Zed, realize they’re not the only ones awake. The murdered woman they find is only the first victim of whoever or whatever has woken from Cold Sleep.
Blood streaks the VIP casket’s pristine white ceramic shell. Crimson handprints mark the controls and edges of the casket’s lid. Bright red spray mars the shining surface of the nearest casket and trickles down across its viewport. The deckplate’s smeared here and there, but the marks aren’t clear enough to make out any footprints.
“No one else in here,” Zed says.
While I’ve been gawping at the corpse, he’s secured the room.
There’s more to him than being a reliable bit of rough. It’s become too easy to dismiss him—the man is capable enough.
“I don’t understand. How could one of the passengers get out of storage?” I ask.
“Look at the casket,” Zed says. “Why’s it still registering an occupant?”
Being careful not to step in any blood, I get closer to her. What strikes me is the way the arcs of blood paint the VIP bay looks like something out of an anti-Ares Cult propaganda piece. The sacrifice of innocent beauty to sate the spirit of Mars. Kind of thing we’d only caught rumors of my first time shipping out. Then the newsfeeds had become more and more clogged with hysteria with every return to Earth. That and the usual.
War. War threatening everywhere.
Makes me think of my brother and hope he isn’t—wait, decades have passed—wasn’t on the frontline.
I drag my mind back from the futureshock and my eyes from the corpse. Getting lost in the past is a sure-fire way to get killed in the here and now.
About the Author:
A Brit now living in the Scandinavian wilds of Denmark with his wife and half-Viking kids, Luke worked as a Criminal Barrister in and around London for over a decade dealing with everything from minor theft cases to a real life axe murder and everything in between. Thanks to parents in the military he grew up being dragged around the world--while living in the Far East he picked up a love for the martial arts which continues to this day, as he passes on what he’s learned to a select dojo of students. Cold Sleep is his third novel. His first was Amazon cyberpunk bestseller Mercury’s Son, his second a UK set supernatural suspense novel 3:33 AM.
Twitter
Facebook
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
a Rafflecopter giveaway
For insider news and subscriber-only info, subscribe to my occasional Newsletter. I promise not to spam and your in-box will only see an email from me every 3 or 4 months or so - unless of course I have something really Newsworthy to share! I also promise that I never have and never will share your information or email address with anyone or any organisation. http://madmimi.com/signups/196357/join
Hi and thanks so much for hosting my novel.
ReplyDeleteI'm happy to answer any questions anyone might have about it but perhaps I can start by offering a small correction. Cold Sleep isn't really a murder mystery, per se. It certainly starts like one but by the second chapter it's clear that it isn't what's going on. SF Horror is a closer match, think Alien without Xenomorphs. My first novel, Mercury's Son, was a bestseller in the Cyberpunk category and that *is* a murder mystery. It's also available through Kindle unlimited, so if anyone is reading this and finds themselves disappointed because they wanted a murder mystery, don't be, I'm your Huckleberry!
Thanks for the correction, Luke, sorry about that - I will correct it now, sounds like an amazing read, will have to go on my tbr list!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Hywela. You're not alone in having thought it was a murder mystery. One of my early betareaders got halfway through the book before realising the identity of the killer was less important than the nature of that killer. A fair amount of misdirection is part of the story as the characters slowly realise what's actually going on.
DeleteSounds so intriguing! I'm even more keen to read it now!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting book cover!!
ReplyDeleteIt is, isnt it! Thanks so much for stopping by, Ally.
ReplyDelete