Review: The Tenth Saint (The Sarah Weston Chronicles #1) by D.J. Niko

Sarah Weston is in the middle of the biggest dig of her career as an archaeologist in Ethiopia, when she is approached by a local claiming he has ‘rare artifacts’ to show her.

Sarah is skeptical, she knows that most locals are simply out to make a buck but the artifacts have all the authentic markers.

She asks the man to show her where he found the artifacts and what she discovers will change the direction of her exposition.

She finds a sealed tomb with inscriptions in an obscure dialect. When the director of the exposition hears that Sarah has basically gone on a wild goose chase, he sends in reinforcements–anthropologist Danial Madigan.

The tomb she discovered is rumored to be that of Tenth Saint of Coptic Christianity. Sarah and Daniel embark on a dangerous journey that will lead them through the dangerous caves of Ethiopia, through the deserts of the Near East, England, Paris, and Texas.

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Review: Bellman and Black: A Ghost Story by Diane Setterfield

As a child, William Bellman makes one tragic mistake that will haunt him all his life. Though it doesn’t seem like a big deal, William soon finds out what a big deal it was.

William is showing off for a few of his friends. He has perfected his slingshot and to impress his friends he claims he can hit a rook (of the raven family) with absolute precision.

When he kills the bird with that fateful shot, he has no idea it will be the mistake that alters his life and the lives of those present that day forever and those that William cares for most.

The Bellman family has done quite well for itself over the years. They are widely known for their textile mill throughout the country side. When William reaches adulthood, his uncle takes him under his wind and start showing him the ropes of mill operation.

His uncle’s own son has zero interest in the running of the mill so that means that when the uncle dies the mill for go to his son but he will need a trusted advisor to run it for him.

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Review: Rasputin’s Shadow by Raymond Khoury

In the coal mines of turn of the century Russia, a group of unsuspecting workers suddenly and completely without warning they all turn aggressive, violent, and paranoid.

Shortly following the strange and savage incident, a scientist and Grigory Rasputin blow up the mine to conceal all evidence of the incident.

In modern day New York City a Russian diplomat seems to have jumped to his death.

Though it appears to be a suicide, there are some tell tale signs that he was more likely pushed from the window.

The owners of the apartment Leo Sokolov, a retired physics teacher from Russia and his wife, are also missing. FBI agent Sean Reilly is sent to investigate and locate the missing husband and wife.

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Interview: Rasputin’s Shadow by Raymond Khoury

As part of the Rasputin’s Shadow blog tour, author Raymond Khoury has done a fabulous Q & A! Without further ado, please welcome Raymond Khoury to The Lit Bitch!

Q: RASPUTIN’S SHADOW is a great mix of technology, history, and action, but there is a little romance too. How do you work to balance these in the novel?

A: I guess it just comes from practice, really. I’ve been a storyteller for years, whether in screenplays of in my previous five novels, and I suppose it’s just a personal preference for how to tell a story, for the pacing, for having a gut feeling about when those different aspects should pop up and not jar or crowd each other out. It’s not something I consciously map out, I don’t outline the books; I just spend a lot of time setting up the characters and their motivations, the triggers of the story, then I let them loose and the story—and all the elements you refer to—come in when it feels right.

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Review: Love Gone Mad by Mark Rubinstein

All that ICU nurse Megan Haggarty wants to do is to start her life over.

Her first marriage was anything but happy and after numerous restraining orders and stalking orders, she thinks she has finally gotten rid of her ex.

She meets a dashing heart surgeon, Adrian Douglas, at the hospital where she works.

He is recently divorced and hopes to make a new life for himself in town and to have a more hands on approach to surgery.

When Adrian meets Megan they have an instant connection. They enjoy each other’s company and their relationship quickly develops into something more.

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