Today's Featured Books

• Jump Cut (from The Ellie Foreman Mysteries series): Kindle Countdown Deal, Dec. 24-30
• Doubleback (from the Georgia Davis Series): Kindle Countdown Deal, Jan. 1-7

Jump Cut

Chicago video producer and amateur sleuth Ellie Foreman gets entangled in a web of espionage, murder, and suspicion that threatens to destroy what she holds most dear.

Hired to produce a candy-floss profile of Chicago-based aviation giant Delcroft, Ellie is dismayed when company VP Charlotte Hollander trashes the production and cancels the project. Ellie believes Hollander was spooked by shots of a specific man in the video footage. But when Ellie arranges to meet the man to find out why, he is killed by a subway train before they can talk.

In the confusion, Ellie finds a seemingly abandoned pack of cigarettes with a flash drive inside that belonged to the now-dead man. Ellie gets the drive's contents decrypted, but before long discovers she's under surveillance. Suspecting Delcroft and the ambitious Hollander are behind it, she's unconvinced when Hollander tells her the dead man was a Chinese spy.

Ellie and her boyfriend, Luke, try to find answers, but they don't realize how far they have ventured into the dangerous echelons of hidden power—where more lives are on the line—including their own.

Praise for Jump Cut

Doubleback

Doubleback unites Chicago private investigator Georgia Davis with filmmaker Ellie Foreman in a search for answers surrounding a kidnapping and mysterious death that takes them from Chicago to northern Wisconsin and an Arizona border town.

Little Molly Messenger is kidnapped on a sunny June morning. Three days later she's returned, apparently unharmed. Molly's mother, Chris, is so grateful to have her daughter back that she's willing to overlook the odd circumstances. 

A few days later, Chris dies when the brakes go out on her car. An accident? Maybe. Except that it turns out that Chris, the IT manager at a large Chicago bank, may have misappropriated three million dollars.

Molly's father hires PI Georgia Davis to follow the money and investigate Chris's death. But when illegal immigrants, smuggled drugs, and an independent security company put Georgia's life in danger, she discovers that you can cross a line, but sometimes you have to double back.

Praise for Doubleback

About the Author

Libby Fischer Hellmann writes compulsively readable thrillers. With seventeen novels and twenty-five short stories published, she has also written suspense mysteries, historicals, PI novels, amateur sleuth, police procedurals, and even a cozy mystery. 

Libby's richly varied novels have won numerous awards, and Libby has also served as the National President (2005-2006) of Sisters in Crime, a 4,000+ member organization dedicated to strengthening the voice of female mystery writers.

Originally from Washington, D.C., Libby earned a BA in History from the University of Pennsylvania, and then a Masters Degree in Film Production from New York University. She's lived in Chicago more than forty years now, has two kids, and a cat.

Learn more at LibbyHellmann.com, get seven free short stories by signing up for Libby's newsletter, and be sure to follow her online:
 

               

Free online cultural event: Festive Valkenburg City Tour. Get yourself in the holiday spirit with this virtual tour of Valkenburg, a lovely town in the south of the Netherlands that turns its cobbled streets and medieval houses into a festive wonderland for the holidays. Saturday, December 23, 2-3 PM CST. (PS: Get your free ticket soon...the tour is almost full!) 

"Ik ben altijd dingen aan het doen die ik nog niet kan om zo te leren hoe ik ze moet doen." (I am always doing things that I can’t yet do, in order to learn how to do them.) ~Vincent van Gogh

"Full of humor and warmth." ~IndieReader. A dutiful Southern daughter pretends to fit into her mother's world, but secretly holds a penchant for differences and adventure. The Bollywood fun of Bride and Prejudice meets a modern Gone with the Wind Southern society in this award-winning, sexy, and provocative multicultural journey of self-discovery. A Foreword Reviews Indies Book of the Year Award Finalist. "Delightful romance by an outstanding new author." ~Amazon Review. From $0.99 SHOP NOW / 

In this epic military space adventure, the faster-than-light ship was the key to reaching New Eden. Would humanity find a new home or a terrible threat? In high orbit, Hunt looked down at the blue-green planet slightly larger than Earth. It looked perfect. But the first scan showed inhabitants, some of whom seemed to be prisoners on the planet. Who were these beings, and how would they react to the presence of the RNS Rook above their planet? If things went south, were his crew and ship able to handle a fight? 5.0 stars, 17 ratings. From $0.99. Free via KU. SHOP NOW / 

Free online: The Parable of the Sower. Join the New York Public Library Grand Concourse staff for a discussion of Octavia Butler's The Parable of the Sower, a story set in a post-apocalyptic Earth (2024!) heavily affected by climate change and social inequality. Thursday, December 21, 1-2 PM EST. 

"Read every day and learn from what you read." ~Octavia Butler

“An intriguing and entertaining story that’s sci-fi and fantasy with a sliver of romance." ~Manhattan Book Review. Nineteen-year-old princess Lilla is a rebel-in-disguise, fighting for the freedom of refugees. But the arrival of the mysterious and ruggedly handsome Callum brings news of a bigger battle that threatens all in the Seven Galaxies: the Era War. Lilla must learn to control her magic and defeat the dark god before He finds her. "A terrifically entertaining, complex, and original fantasy." ~Kirkus Reviews. Book 1 in the series. 4.4 stars, 4300+ ratings on Goodreads. From $0.99. Free via KU. SHOP NOW / 

A small-town Christmas Romance novel. Daphne gets a surprise at her equine boarding ranch when a trailer full of reindeer shows up. Handsome veterinarian Hudson gets involved when one of the reindeer gets sick. Daphne doesn't want any part of the reindeer or Hudson, but there's more to her story—and Hudson is as interested in Daphne as he is in helping her solve this particular reindeer game. "A magical Christmas story involving reindeer, romance and all manner of fun." ~Amazon Review. 4.6 stars, 935 ratings. From $0.99. Free via KU. SHOP NOW / 

Today, LitNuts is shining a spotlight on The Breach Cycle series from author David Welch...books that follow the adventures of two former soldiers who provide security for scientists who are opening breaches into other universes to see what’s out there and what they can learn. 

★★★★★ "Rip-roaring adventure with a little philosophy and romance." ~Amazon Review

The Boys of the Breach

Easton Keller and Breck Everett wanted nothing more than to serve their country. But when budget cuts cause them to be "prematurely retired" from the Special Forces, these two warriors find themselves embarking on a new adventure: Provide security for scientists working at a facility that explores the multiverse, opening breaches into other universes to see what’s out there and what they can learn.

Given the infinite span of the multiverse, there are endless discoveries waiting for mankind. But with every possible eventuality existing in one parallel universe or another, the scientists are bound to run into danger…lots of danger. That’s where the Easton and Breck come in.

Leading a guard company of other former military and police veterans, Easton and Breck take on everything the multiverse can throw at them: Pissed-off sentient dinosaurs, alien critters who feed off body-horror, prehistoric bears with a grudge, interdimensional corsair slavers, wild west madmen bent on refighting the civil war, genius scientists who completely lack common sense, parallel versions of themselves who cheat at cards…even ex-wives they may or may not still be hung up on.

Their job is to face them all and bring the egg-heads home safe—and they’re among the few who might actually be able to do it. The multiverse may be a dangerous place, but these are dangerous men…

The Men of the Breach

Former soldiers Easton Keller and Breck Everett didn’t know what to expect when they first signed up for jobs exploring the multiverse. But after a year they’ve become old hands at taking on the countless dangers that parallel universes dish up.

Recovering from a slave raid on their own home base, they face new challenges as they try to rebuild following the devastating attack. Their staff is traumatized, the people of Earth paranoid about the possibility of another attack, and the politicos worried all of this will cost them their careers. Meanwhile, Easton is busy trying to make things work with his guilt-ridden ex-wife, while Breck faces an unexpected life change that nobody saw coming. But despite the new realities, the job must continue...too much has been invested by too many for it to stop.

Rex and his Guard Company are going back out into the multiverse, taking on power-hungry Romans, pupating kaiju, post-apocalyptic wastelands, cannibalistic monsters who absorb the wisdom of their enemies, and perhaps worst of all…bureaucrats. As if all that is enough, the corsairs who have caused so much damage are still out there, and they are not taking their loss quietly.

The multiverse offers infinite possibilities—and infinite dangers. These are the tales of the men who deal with it.

    

Free online: Dueling Detectives author talk. Presented by the New York Public Library, UK author Tom Mead (who specializes in locked room mysteries) will discuss his writing career and his recent mystery titles, Death and the Conjuror and The Murder Wheel. Tuesday, December 19, 3-4 PM EST. 

"This man was poisoned! Oh, wait, is that blood? That is blood. This man was poisoned in the chest with a knife!" ~Hercule Poirot