ON SALE for $0.98
Lethal Journey
by Kim
Cresswell
Kim Cresswell's latest novel,
Lethal Journey, is ON SALE for only $0.98 (save $3.00). You
can also read my blog post about Kim's first novel, Reflection,
whose sequel will also be released later this year.
Description
A killer lurks in
the shadows of Hyde Park, New York … waiting.
Manhattan District
Attorney, Lauren Taylor, is about to take on the most important case of her
career, prosecuting Gino Valdina, acting mob boss of New York’s most
influential crime syndicate.
For three decades,
Gino Valdina has led New York’s Valdina crime family. Since his recent
indictment for murder, the leadership of the family is in turmoil, appalled by
the death of one of their own, Gino’s wife, Madelina. Without the support of
the family behind him, Valdina will do anything to save himself.
But Lauren soon
discovers, things aren’t always as they seem when she’s tossed into a mystery,
a deadly conspiracy that reaches far beyond the criminal underworld and a
journey into the past makes her a target … and anyone she’s ever loved.
Excerpt
September 1997
Rain pounded down.
Lauren Taylor squinted through the windshield, a backwash of water
battered the glass. She flicked the wipers on high and tightened her hands
around the steering wheel. With a quick glance in the rear-view mirror she
noticed headlights behind her. The vehicle appeared to speed up, fall back, and
then speed up again.
Her muscles tensed. “That driver behind us seems to be in a big hurry.”
Her father leaned forward in the seat and peered into the side mirror.
“He’s all over the road. Might be drunk or something.”
“He’s crazy driving like that in this weather. I’m letting him go by.”
She downshifted the Jaguar and steered onto the side of the road and rolled to
a stop.
As the van raced by. A giant wave of water pelted the side of the car.
Her father watched out the window. “Christ, he’s flying”
Taillights flickered and quickly faded ahead into the blackened night.
With a quick glimpse in the mirror, Lauren steered the car back onto the
road, her grip relaxed around the wheel. “That’s better.”
Her father repositioned himself in the leather seat and stretched his
legs. “The Law Society’s dinner is next week. You going?”
God, the dinner. She’d bought an expensive navy and white designer dress
for the occasion and even toyed with the idea of having her hair cut into
something more sophisticated and polished for a New York district attorney.
“I’ll have to check my schedule.”
“Not good enough. I want you there, Lauren. My chance to show you off. Do
some bragging, big time.”
She couldn’t help but smile. “Okay, Dad. Okay.”
“And don’t forget to bring a date for protection. Don’t want a bunch of
drunken seedy lawyers groping you on the dance floor. And by the way, I heard
Eric was back in town.”
Her smile faded as she remembered the annual dinner years before. She’d
never forgotten a single detail of that night—how Eric held her in his arms and
how his mouth devoured her willing lips then pulled away and left her mouth
burning for more...
“What else did you hear about him?” she blurted out.
“Not much. Can’t even remember where I heard the news. Thought you didn’t
want to talk about Brennan?”
“I don’t. I just wondered when he got back.”
Her father's jaw tightened. “Don’t know.” His voice turned hard. “Just
heard he’s back.”
At one point in their relationship, Eric begged her to come with him and
start a new life in Florida. She didn’t have the courage to leave her father
and walk away from her job. Four years later, she was taking on the most
important case of her career—prosecuting Gino Valdina, head of New York’s crime
family, just like her father had done a decade before. But this time would be
different. Gino Valdina wasn’t going to get away with murder.
The sky split and lightning lit the wet road. Lauren eyed the exit sign
to Hyde Park.
The whining squeal of an engine roared from behind.
Lauren glanced over her shoulder. “God, that van is back.” She clicked on
the turning signal and steered onto the off-ramp. Her eyes darted back to the
side mirror.
Headlights swerved from side to side.
A shiver drove up her spine. She clutched the steering wheel.
“I’m calling the police.” Her father grabbed his cell phone out of the
glove box and turned it on. “Damn it. I can’t get a signal.”
“Keep trying.”
The van’s driver gunned the engine.
The grill came into view, massive and powerful.
Close. Too close.
Metal connected and scraped against the bumper.
The van shoved the Jaguar ahead on the road.
High-beams from the other lane blinded her.
Lauren blinked and turned her head.
The van rammed the back of the car. Metal popped as the back window
disintegrated into the back seat.
The seat belt snapped across her shoulder. Her head slammed back on the
head rest then forward. “Oh my God!”
The cell phone flew from her father’s hand. “What the—”
“Dad!”
Like a slingshot the Jaguar shot down the slick road.
Lauren slammed on the brakes.
The car slid a half circle and spun out of control. A massive tidal wave
of water washed over the roof.
Her father clutched the dashboard with both hands. “The tree!”
She yanked the steering wheel hard to the left.
Wood splintered. Metal buckled, squealed and cracked. The air bag struck
her body like a fist, and smacked her head against the side window. She pushed
at it, viciously. With every move, fiery pain shot through her face and down
her neck. The sickening sweet stench of gasoline and smoke filled her nostrils.
Her head clouded.
Lauren heard her own voice, pinched and muffled, cry out. “Dad!” until
her words drifted into silence.
Review
High tension, high intrigue, and an angry mob boss put young District
Attorney Lauren Taylor on the defensive as she prepares for the biggest
courtroom case of her life. All she has to do is stay alive long enough to put
the head of one of New York’s biggest crime families behind bars, and the jury
is out on whether she can pull that off. Her greatest ally is a man she knew
and loved long ago, who shredded her heart as his own demons of guilt tried to
drown him in an alcohol induced haze. Lethal
Journey by Kim Cresswell hits the ground running and does not stop! Are
people as they seem or is there more to them? As the attempts on her life
escalate and people close to her go missing, Lauren doesn’t have many options
on who to trust. Enter the one man who broke her heart, Eric, a homicide
detective who has also felt the burn of getting too close to the mob. Can Lauren
trust him? Does she have a choice? It would be so much easier if her heart
would stay out of it, wouldn't it?
Kim Cresswell’s talent shines through again! With a talent for setting
the stage, bringing in the characters and cuing the action, she held me from
page one. She is not afraid to write a tale that is real, where the good guys
do not go unscathed and they are not perfect. There is grit in her style, and
when she says you are in a warehouse with a stench, you smell it. The romantic
tension runs high, and using character flashbacks to the past not only builds
on the development of each character as a flesh and blood entity, but serve to
eventually bring everything full circle with an ending that you will NOT see
coming!
About the Author
Kim Cresswell resides in Ontario, Canada. Trained as a legal assistant,
Kim has been a story-teller all her life but took many detours including
working for a private investigator, running a graphic design business, and
teaching computer classes at a local business school. After becoming disabled
with Fibromyalgia and Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome, Kim returned to
her first love, writing. For her, writing suspense fiction is an incredible
adventure and she's surprised where the journey takes her. She's also an avid
reader who enjoys playing computer games, ghost hunting and loves anything
paranormal.
Her debut romantic suspense, Reflection,
has won numerous awards including; UP Authors Fiction Challenge Winner (2013),
Silicon Valley's Romance Writers of America (RWA) "Gotcha!" Romantic
Suspense Winner! (2004) and an Honourable Mention in CARWA's The Writer's Voice
Contest (2006).
Kim has a few new books in the works including the sequel to Reflection which will be released in
late 2013.
Links
