This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Carolyn Arnold will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour. #LiveForward
Tell us about your current book in 10 words.
10 words? How about 27?
FBI Agent Brandon Fisher sets out to prove the innocence of a fellow agent suspected of murder and finds himself on the hunt for a serial killer.
What are you reading right now?
Stolen by Daniel Palmer.
Do you have any bad book habits?
When I’m reading a print book, I love to sniff the pages. (Not the glue, all right! That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!)
E-Reader or print? and why?
E-reader for fiction and print for non-fiction. I love having a hard copy for non-fiction so that I can outline and easily refer back to it if I need to. My Kindle allows me to read in limited lighting, for example, in front of the TV at night.
One book at a time or multiples?
Multiple. Usually 1 fiction and a couple non-fiction.
Dog-ear or bookmark? (don't worry—Librarian Judith won't hold it against you—much)
Bookmark.
When do you do most of your reading?
Non-fiction in the morning or on Sunday. Fiction most evenings.
Re-reader or not?
I usually only read a book once, expect for my own for obvious reasons.
The murder is one of the most heinous Brandon Fisher has ever seen, but that’s not why it has his and his colleagues’ attention. The FBI’s interested because the prime suspect is one of their own, Paige Dawson.
But Paige didn’t go to Valencia, California to kill anyone. She had set out on “vacation”—her new lover in tow—only to confront the man who had raped her friend twenty-some years ago. While the hands of the law are tied, she wants him to face the fact that he destroyed a young woman’s life and know that, as an FBI agent, she’ll be watching his every move. But instead of accomplishing her goal, she wound up in the back of a police cruiser.
Now Paige must face off with a hard-nosed detective determined to stick a murder charge to a fed. But with the trained eyes of the FBI on the case, it’s becoming more and more obvious that the evidence lends itself to a serial killing, not an isolated incident. And as long as the local authorities are focused on Paige, the real murderer is still out there, possibly waiting to strike again…
Paige blinked the tears from her eyes. It couldn’t be. She wiped her wet eyes, her gaze not leaving the necklace in her hand. The chain was a common style, but the heart pendant and the letter N…
Still, it didn’t mean this one had been Natasha’s…
Paige swallowed. But she remembered when Natasha had realized she’d lost it. She had dropped on the end of the hotel bed as if all the weight of the world were piled on her shoulders. It was the morning after the rape.
Tears now fell freely down Paige’s cheeks. There was no doubt in her mind that the necklace she now held had been Natasha’s.
Paige cried as the past washed over her and continued to do so until rage replaced her sadness.
Somehow, she would make this son of a bitch pay for what he had done. She was past the point of keeping within the shades of the law and would circumvent legal means if that’s what it took to hold him responsible.
She clasped the necklace around her neck. Had Ferris kept it as some sort of sick notch in his bedpost? If so, that showed a psychology to him that confirmed he was a repeat offender. And if that was his mentality, prison wouldn’t have rehabilitated him, and that meant there were likely date-rape drugs here to prove it.
She stormed from the bedroom and toward the bathroom.
Beyond the point of caring anymore if she left her fingerprints behind, she emptied the contents of the medicine cabinet, and his toiletries now filled the sink.
Nothing.
She rushed back to his bedroom and tore it apart. The drugs were here somewhere. A man like Ferris wouldn’t stop raping…
Several minutes passed as she searched, and when she was finished, his bedroom looked like a tornado had struck. But still no pills.
Maybe she was being ridiculous, hoping to find something where there was nothing. And even if she found the drugs, what did she hope to accomplish? While possession of date-rape drugs was illegal, her means of getting them would make them inadmissible in any court. But she couldn’t stop. All she could see was her friend’s body in that casket—the way her face, even in death, showed her tortured existence.
She hurried downstairs to the kitchen. There was no way she was stopping now.
She searched each cupboard and drawer, pulling out items and rooting to the back. She had one place left to look, and as she opened it, she saw that it was a catchall drawer. Stuffed with anything and everything from a meat thermometer, to sandwich bags, to tin foil, to… She pulled out a sleeve of pills. She flipped them and read the stamp on the silver backing. Allergy pills.
She continued working through the contents of the drawer until she reached the last item. It was an Aleve bottle. That was an inconvenient place to keep a pain reliever… She opened it and looked inside. It was only the medication. She was still holding the bottle in her hand when she recalled the one on the counter. She exchanged one for the other, not about to give up. Just because the bottle was labeled one way… She twisted the lid.
Police sirens wailed somewhere nearby, and she paused. Her instinct told her to leave this alone and get out of his house immediately. But it was too late, the whooping sirens were on top of her now, and then the patio door slid open on the other side of the dining room. Two police officers entered the house, guns drawn.
“Santa Clarita Sheriff’s Department! Put your hands on your head!”
“What’s—” The strength drained from her legs, and her head spun. She was under arrest?
Oh God. That woman must have called the police.
“I said, put your hands on your head!” the same officer shouted.
Another officer went around behind her, stripped her of her gun, passed it off to the second officer, and proceeded to cuff her. “You have the right to remain silent—”
“This isn’t what it looks like.”
“It looks like you’re ransacking the house of a dead man.”
A dead man?
“I’m an FBI agent. I can explain—”
“You can do that down at the station.”
Carolyn was born in a small town, but that doesn’t keep her from dreaming big. And on par with her large dreams is her overactive imagination that conjures up killers and cases to solve. She currently lives in a city near Toronto with her husband and beagle. She is also a member of Crime Writers of Canada.
Connect with CAROLYN ARNOLD Online:
Website - http://carolynarnold.net/
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ReplyDeleteGood Morning and thanks for the great giveaway
ReplyDeleteIf you couldn’t be an author, what would your ideal career be?
ReplyDeleteIf I couldn't be an author, it would be mean I was dead or dying. ;) I just can't imagine my life without writing in it.
DeleteI really enjoyed reading the excerpt and the interview! This book sounds like such an interesting and intriguing read! Can't wait to read it!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Ally.
DeleteReally great post, I enjoyed reading it! I've also greatly enjoyed following the tour for Violated and I'm looking forward to reading it. Thanks for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Victoria. I'm glad that you enjoyed the excerpt.
DeleteWhat a fascinating excerpt. Very exciting.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you enjoyed it. :)
DeleteSounds like an exciting story
ReplyDeleteThank you, Amy.
DeleteThank you for the interview and for being part of the VIOLATED virtual tour.
ReplyDeleteHow many books do you plan on having in this series?
ReplyDeleteI don't have a set number in mind. As long as I have the story ideas and the readers, I will keep going. :)
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