Book excerpt for Eyes Die Last from Teri Riggs

Today I'm hosting a book excerpt for mystery thriller author Teri Riggs and her new novel, Eyes Die Last.

During her tour, Teri will be awarding a $50 Amazon or Barnes and Noble gift card to a lucky person. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit other tour stops and enter there, too.

Bio:

Teri Riggs was destined to be a writer. As a small girl she didn’t read bedtime stories, she made up her own. Who needed Little Red Riding Hood or The Three Little Pigs when there were so many great tales bouncing around in her head? When she grew up and became a mother to three little girls, she continued the tradition of making up bedtime stories. On the occasions she chose to tell conventional fairytales, Teri usually gave them a bit of tweaking here and there or added a new ending. Her girls loved it.

After her daughters had the nerve to actually grow up and leave home, Teri discovered she had a passion for writing and jumped right in. It came as no surprise she chose to write mysteries and happily-ever-after’s since that’s the genres she loves to read.

Teri lives in Marietta, Georgia with her husband, one of her daughters and two dogs that seem to think they rule the world. And some days Teri thinks maybe they do.

Teri still frequently tells herself stories as she falls asleep. The only difference now is she wakes up the next morning and turns her bedtime stories into books.

Blurb:
The Las Vegas Mayoral race is heating up, and the incumbent doesn’t have a prayer. Wealthy real estate speculator Nick Campenelli, who wants to legalize prostitution in Clark County, and former pastor Louis St. Louis, running on a 'clean-up-Vegas-by-getting-rid-of-the-whores' platform, are the front runners.

They’re also front runners on the suspect list for a string of murders. Kennedy O’Brien, four-year detective with cop blood running in her veins, and her partner Wilder “Wild Thing” James, a veteran, are determined to find the man who’s murdering prostitutes who work the wrong side of the street, and they don’t care how important or politically active he is.

The killer is a man with a mission. He stalks the women before he kills them, leaving a “BEFORE” photo on their bodies, and sending an “AFTER” shot to the local news hound. Ed Hershey, an aging newscaster with just the right amount of grey in his hair, is determined to turn this story into a network gig, and his interference, along with the LVTVS legal team, are making Kennedy and Wilder look bad. Campenelli’s good looks and charm, and St. Louis’ vitriolic hatred of prostitutes are muddying the waters too, and now the killer seems to have taken a liking to Kennedy. 

So the big question remains. Can she get him before he gets her?

Excerpt:

Nick, leaning against a marble pillar with his arms crossed, observed the detective as she took in the view. He tried to figure out what was going on in that beautiful head of hers.

She was stunning. Her hair, a rich sable color, fell just below her shoulders. Long, dark lashes surrounded rare blue-violet eyes. Her lips were full and softly sculpted. She was tall and lithe, and when she moved, he got a glimpse of the soft, womanly curves hidden beneath her jacket. She wrapped her arms around her waist.

Was that a little shiver?

She tilted her head back and took a deep breath, and then let it out with a long sigh.

“Are you chilled, Detective? I can get you a wrap.”

She turned and snarled. “I just lost my balance for a second. You shouldn’t sneak up on a person like that. You’re lucky I didn’t shoot you.” She didn’t give him a chance to respond. “Why in the hell would anyone want an office way up here anyway?”

He found the slight Irish cadence that had slipped into her voice, very, very sexy. “For the view of course. I’ve caught you admiring it. Or was the sigh for me?”

“Don’t flatter yourself, Slick. Not that it’s any of your business, but that was an attempt to keep my morning coffee down. The ride up could make a bird nauseous.”

“Not fond of heights, I take it. Too bad. Being at the top gives a person a much clearer picture of everything.” He stepped forward and stood side by side, shoulder to shoulder with her, enjoying the view himself. “Can you honestly deny how great the view is from here?”

“Being this high up makes my heart pound and knees weak. I feel so woozy I could hurl. But strangely enough, I can’t help but look.” Her voice softened. “It’s a really spectacular view.”

Nick could tell the minute Kennedy realized what she’d said. She turned to face him, looking totally mortified. Her eyes narrowed and her body stiffened.

“I’m glad you enjoy it, Detective. Give yourself a few minutes and the weak knees and the urge to hurl, as you so delicately put it, will go away. Then you can relax and enjoy the panorama.”

 “Sorry, I don’t have the time to stand around getting off on scenery. And I sure as hell don’t have time to worry about whether or not I speak delicately. I have a few more questions I need you to answer.” Her voice had regained its hard edge.

“No problem, Detective. Let’s move over to my desk, or the couch. Whichever you’d feel more comfortable at.”

“Your desk will be fine. This shouldn’t take long, Mr. Campenelli.”

“Please, call me Nick.” He led her over to his desk and offered her a chair across from his own.

“Mr. Campenelli—”

“Nick, please,” he interrupted.

“I’m not here to make nice, Mr. Campenelli. I’d like for you to tell me about the photos of prostitutes you have plastered on the break room wall at your campaign headquarters. Can you explain what that’s all about?”

He felt the beginnings of anger snake up his spine, then take root at the base of his skull. “I see you’ve been talking to Ed Hershey. He asked me the same question and I told him to go to hell as it was none of his business. I assume since you’re wearing that nice shiny badge, I wouldn’t get away with giving you the same explanation.”

“You assume right.”

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Interview with mystery author Michael Meyer

Today's guest is suspense, thriller, and mystery writer Michael Meyer. He's currently touring his novel Covert Dreams and is here to give us a little peek behind the covers.

  

Welcome, Michael. Please tell us a little bit about yourself.

I am a retired English professor. I literally taught at universities throughout the world: Thailand, Saudi Arabia, the Virgin Islands, and I spent the last twenty-five years of my forty-year career at a California community college. I live in Southern California wine country with my wife, Kitty, and our two other cats. I love to write, read, and travel the world. I am delighted that I now have the luxury of time to devote to all three of my lifelong passions.

Please tell us about your current release.

Imagine waking up remembering intimate details about a country in which you have never traveled and fluently speaking a language that you have never spoken. B.J. is living the ideal life. He has a great wife, a wonderful job. And yet he is experiencing life-like vivid dreams of Munich, a city he has never visited.

Stan Halsey is a professor in Saudi Arabia, who sends for his wife to join him. She arrives, and, in the blink of an eye, she vanishes, leaving no trace of ever being alive in either the United States or in Saudi Arabia.

Covert Dreams is a fast-paced international suspense thriller that moves from Munich to the burning sands of Saudi Arabia. What is real, and who is responsible for the terrifying nightmare?

What inspired you to write this book?

I have always been intrigued by the relationship the United States has had with Saudi Arabia, one of the most restrictive societies in the world. As a college professor in Saudi Arabia, I was witness to the fact that life here and life there is as different as being on two separate planets. What we take here for a given is nearly always a no-no there.

The area of parapsychology has always intrigued me, and where better to deal with something such as this than in a very hidden-from-the-rest-of-the-world location. The mixture of live and let live as practiced in Bavarian Munich, coupled with the fervent zeal of Arabia, enhanced by American involvement—and the plot just seemed to thicken, drawing me into it as I wrote, without my ever knowing precisely where or how it would end, but loving every minute of it.

Excerpt:

The Munich all around her was bustling with activity. She could hear it from all directions. Munich was a wonderful city, a fun-loving place, the live and let live ebullience of the city emanating from its every nook and cranny. She had had a lovely stay here. All of it had been so adventurous, so new, so unlike life back home in Arizona. She could vividly recall the first time she had ventured into a Munich beer garden, where the liter mugs had been so huge that she had had to lift hers with both hands, and the giggles, from him, until he too had had to use both hands.

The fumbling noises he had been making came to an abrupt halt. He began stroking her cheek again. Gus looked so happy, so young, so full of life. It was so hard to imagine that he could be so heavily involved in all this horror.

Gus smiled at her once more. His eyes were soft, so gentle, so caring, so loving.

Maybe this was some kind of huge mistake. Maybe he wasn't going to kill her after all. Maybe everything would turn out happily ever after. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe.

But then suddenly she saw it clearly. It was no fairy tale. There would be no maybe. This was real, as real as the mixture of sadness and fear that now flooded her brain.

And then she died, with her eyes wide open, challenging, piercing his to the end.

What exciting story are you working on next?

I am currently working on something quite different from anything that I have ever written before. It is a memoir of my journey from grieving widower to the once-again happily married man I am today. It is entitled The Three Kitties that Saved My Life, dedicated to my rescued stray cat, my inspirational three-legged cat, and my wonderful new wife, Kitty.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I became fascinated with books at a very young age. I must have read every Curious George book out there. At the age of ten, I self-published my first book, a short synopsis of California history. My parents bought the only copy, but I was a published author, and I was hooked. I have always been good at writing. In fact, all through the school system, my teachers would compliment me on my writing. I have written stories, essays, poems, novellas, and novels, but it wasn’t until I retired, in December of 2010, that I gave my writing itch a good scratch. I am not out for money. As a retired college professor, I have a nice pension. Rather, I want to write until I die. I love creating characters and plots. Writing to me is like reading. I never know precisely where things will lead. I am in good health, and my doctor told me that writing is a very healthy avocation for someone in my situation: a retiree. I love his advice.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?

I am retired English professor. I devote my time now to my family, to my writing, to reading, and to travel, both nationally and internationally. I love to travel. I have lived abroad many times, and there are few countries in the world that I have not had the privilege to visit. My international travels have helped me become a better person and a better writer. When I decide to write, I do so. I am not out to make a lot of profit. I want to have fun, and creating plots and characters in the exotic places I have lived is very enjoyable. The minute my mind has to struggle with what is to come next, I promptly get up from my computer and do something else. I want to ensure that writing is always pleasurable for me instead of being hard work.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I come up with my greatest ideas when I jog in the morning for my daily exercise. I will often find myself running home as fast as I can, so that I can jot down a great idea that popped into my mind before I lose it. I look forward to my daily walks. They are healthy for me, and they also provide me with new ideas for my writing,

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I always wanted to be just like my father, a college professor, and that is precisely what I became, for over forty years. I loved every minute of it.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

The locales I write about are real. For instance, Covert Dreams is set primarily in Munich and in Saudi Arabia. I have lived and studied in Germany, and I know Munich as well as I know the back of my own hands. Also, I was a college professor at the University of Petroleum and Minerals, in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. I have traveled extensively throughout the Middle East. In addition, my Caribbean murder mystery, Deadly Eyes, is set on the island of St. Croix, where I was a professor at the University of the Virgin Islands. The Famous Union is a humorous look at college life, and I was a professor for forty years, so I know the territory well. The Survival of Marvin Baines is a semi-humorous look at midlife, something that I personally have lived through.

Thanks, Michael. Happy touring!

Readers, here are some ways you can connect with Michael:

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