M.T. Bass's Murder by Munchausen Blog Tour with a Spotlight, Excerpt and Giveaway

 

I am so excited to have M.T. Bass at Paranormal and Romantic Suspense Reviews with a Spotlight, Excerpt and Giveaway.

Thanks M.T. and Goddess Fish Promotions for allowing me to join your Murder by Munchausen Blog Tour!

Please take it away, M.T.! 

MURDER BY MUNCHAUSEN TRILOGY
by AUTHOR'S NAME
GENRE: Mystery/Sci-Fi/Police Procedural

BLURB

A police procedural sci fi thriller ripped from future headlines!

After Jake shoots and kills a murder suspect who turns out to be the son of a powerful city councilman, he finds himself demoted to the Artificial Crimes Unit, tracking down androids hacked and programmed to be hit men.

When his case of an “extra-judicial” divorce settlement takes a nasty turn with DNA from a hundred-year-old murder in Boston and a signature that harkens back to the very first serial killer ever in London, Jake finds himself tangled up in the brutal slayings of prostitutes being investigated by his former Robbery/Homicide partner, Maddie – who is now his lover.

But a madman, The Baron, is just getting started with his AI recreations of Jack the Ripper's brutal crimes. And Maddie and Jake are teamed up again to stop the carnage as the Baron's army of human replicants imitate history's most notorious serial killers.

"It might not make sense, but the beloved Media tags it 'Murder by Munchausen.' For a price, there are hackers out there who will reprogram a synthoid to do your dirty work. The bad news: no fingerprints or DNA left at the crime scene. The good news—at least for us—is that they’re like missiles: once they hit their target, they’re usually as harmless as empty brass. The trick is to get them before they melt down their core OS data, so you can get the unit into forensics for analysis and, hopefully, an arrest." [excerpt from Murder by Munchausen]

Artificial Intelligence? Fuhgeddaboudit!

Artificial Evil has a name…Munchausen.

EXCERPT

From The Invisible Mind (#3)

It sat on a bench outside the dormitory of nursing students, waiting with its kind’s infinite patience. Originally acquired and programmed for landscaping at the Cleveland Clinic, the synthoid was one of a brigade of units which had been hacked and Munchausened, then returned to their menial daily services to mankind to await the Baron’s call.

There was no adrenalin surge behind the extremely life-like facade of humanity when that call came. Data packets, sent scatter-shot through the Atlas Grid, coalesced at the location outside the Cole Eye Institute, where it methodically trimmed and shaped the immaculate shrubbery around the building. To avoid Q’s metadata sniffing algorithms from detecting a download spike in the grid, the information came in digital sprinkles over the course of its human handler’s work shift, slowly building a malevolent intent to be executed that night. In the middle of the afternoon, it left the topiary unfinished to melt into the hospital shift change and disappeared.

Personality modules were a Gen-3 feature upgrade, which is why the earlier models were initially preferred. Swapping out a few IC chips and uploading hacked firmware was a relatively easy way to turn a quick buck with an automated contract killing. But evil innovates, too, and the same features that made synthoids even more human-like in their behavior also helped create robotic assassins which could better camouflage their malicious intents and evade the reach of the Artificial Crimes Unit by melting into and moving undetected through the humanity that surrounded them. For the Baron, it allowed for a greater measure of artistic expression in programming the synthoid’s behavior to not only recreate infamous crimes of the past, but to mimic the behavior of their perpetrators, which intensified the thrill of watching the video feed through the eyes of Jack the Ripper, Ted Bundy or, this particular evening, Richard Speck. Jake wasn’t the only history buff and it amused Jamal that London police had photographed the eyes of Jack the Ripper’s victims, hoping to capture the last thing they ever saw: their killer’s face. If only Scotland Yard could have imagined the future.

The Gen-3 personality modules also supported the ANSI Adaptive Artificial Intelligence Protocol #9 to enhance the artificial human experience of real men and women who interacted with synthoids. The constant writing and rewriting of code in the personality/experience loop formed unique individual synthoid consciousnesses, which manufacturers uploaded to their servers for product improvement teams to study. In Munchausened units, that feed was hijacked and routed to another portal in the Darknet to build a collective id of evil.

At eleven PM, it rose from the bench and entered the dormitory. The bodies of nine women would be found the next day, having been strangled and stabbed to death. Unlike 1966, no eyewitness was left alive, though the phrase "Born to Raise Hell" was written on the wall in blood.

AUTHOR Bio and Links

M.T. Bass is a scribbler of fiction who holds fast to the notion that while victors may get to write history, novelists get to write/right reality. He lives, writes, flies and makes music in Mudcat Falls, USA.

Born in Athens, Ohio, M.T. Bass grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. He graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University, majoring in English and Philosophy, then worked in the private sector (where they expect “results”) mainly in the Aerospace & Defense manufacturing market. During those years, Bass continued to write fiction. He is the author of eight novels: My Brother’s Keeper, Crossroads, In the Black, Somethin’ for Nothin’, Murder by Munchausen, The Darknet (Murder by Munchausen Mystery #2), The Invisible Mind (Murder by Munchausen Mystery #3) and Article 15. His writing spans various genres, including Mystery, Adventure, Romance, Black Comedy and TechnoThrillers. A Commercial Pilot and Certified Flight Instructor, airplanes and pilots are featured in many of his stories. Bass currently lives on the shores of Lake Erie near Lorain, Ohio.

M.T. Bass Author Links

Website: https://www.mtbass.net

Blog: https://www.owl-works.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/owlworks/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Owlworks

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/author/mtbass

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5270962.M_T_Bass

Murder by Munchausen Trilogy Purchase Links

https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Munchausen-Trilogy-Future-Mystery-ebook/dp/B07QDGHYZ6

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/murder-by-munchausen-trilogy-books-1-3/id1458934052?mt=11

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1131145794?ean=2940156040681

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/murder-by-munchausen-trilogy

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/932579

GIVEAWAY

$25 Amazon/BN GC

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f3054

Please follow the rest of the tour here, thanks:

https://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2019/04/book-blast-murder-by-munchausen-by-mt.html



 

 

Weekly Book Reads (May 20)

Weekly Book Reads

Weekly Book Reads is a weekly Monday Meme that is hosted by Paranormal and Romantic Suspense Reviews:

Post the books read last week and books you plan on finishing this week.

Read Last Week:

1.  Last Second - Catherine Coulter
2.  Nothing to Hide - Allison Brennan

Weekly Book Reading:

1. The Diva Sweetens the Pie - Krista Davis
2. The Loch Ness Papers - Paige Shelton

Library Haul 2019 (May 19 - 25)

Library Haul

Here's the list of books/manga/manhwa/yaoi manga I picked up this week at the library:

Hardcover:

1.  The Loch Ness Papers - Paige Shelton
2.  The Diva Sweetens the Pie - Krista Davis
3.  The Amish Sweet Shop - Various Authors
4.  The Summer Retreat - Sheila Roberts

Bunny Express Saturday 2018 (May 18)

Bunny Express Saturday is hosted every Saturday at Paranormal and Romantic Suspense Reviews.

I received these in the mail this week.    

Detective Lindsay Boxer's investigation into the disappearance of three teachers quickly escalates from missing persons to murder in the newest Women's Murder Club thriller.

For a trio of colleagues, an innocent night out after class ends in a deadly torture session. They vanish without a clue -- until a body turns up. With the safety of San Francisco's entire school system at stake, Lindsay has never been under more pressure. As the chief of police and the press clamor for an arrest in the "school night" case, Lindsay turns to her best friend, investigative journalist Cindy Thomas. Together, Lindsay and Cindy take a new approach to the case, and unexpected facts about the victims leave them stunned.

While Lindsay is engrossed in her investigation, her husband, Joe Molinari, meets an Eastern European woman who claims to have seen a notorious war criminal -- long presumed dead -- from her home country. Before Lindsay can verify the woman's statement, Joe's mystery informant joins the ranks of the missing women. Lindsay, Joe, and the entire Women's Murder Club must pull together to protect their city, and one another -- not from a ghost, but from a true monster.

 

New York Times bestseller Allison Brennan's latest novel featuring FBI Agent Lucy Kincaid finds her on the trail of a serial killer.

With a background in psychology, FBI Agent Lucy Kincaid is good at getting into the heads of killers and victims both. Still, her latest case is leaving her stumped. A third body has turned up in San Antonio ― and it bears the same unique and troubling M.O. as the first two. The killer is clearly trying to send a message. But what is it ― and to whom? All roads keep leading Lucy down a dead end.

The victims are all married men who led honest lives alongside their adoring wives, but have nothing else in common. When Lucy catches each widow in a lie, she realizes that things are not at all as they seem. What begins as a seemingly straightforward investigation turns into something far darker and more sinister than Lucy could have ever imagined. Can she solve this case before more lives are lost. including her own husband?

After a lifetime spent in and out of hospitals, Zoey Wright is tired of playing it safe. She's ready to take charge of her own life and get out of her comfort zone, starting with a new job as a CSI agent. But when her childhood crush Knox Steele gets pulled onto her case, Zoey needs to put her feelings for him aside or more women will die at the hands of the serial killer preying on her hometown.

Former Army Ranger Knox Steele is back in Washington to help his brothers open an elite private security firm. He never expected to stumble onto a crime scene, or see his best friend's little sister working it. Zoey is all grown up now, and the attraction between them is electric, despite his best efforts to resist it. But all that changes for Knox when he realizes the victims have one thing in common and Zoey might be next.

Real heroes aren't born, they're made

K9 handler Arin Siri doesn't like taking orders, and she works best when it's just her and her dog King out in the field. But when she discovers a wounded soldier of fortune during a Search and Protect mission, she has no choice but to get him to safety. The last time she and the roguish, sexy Jason Landon tangled, they were on opposite sides of the conflict, but this time, he's claiming to need her help.

When Jason wakes up in a hospital on Hawaii's Big Island, he's shocked to discover Arin guarding him. She's the last person he expected to see, but she's also the only person who can help him bring down a kidnapping ring. As they draw closer to danger - and to each other - they must race against the clock to discover who the kidnappers are working for, or risk becoming collateral damage themselves.

Filled with rare images and untold stories from filmmakers, exhibitors, and moviegoers, Forbidden Hollywood is the ultimate guide to a gloriously entertaining era when a lax code of censorship let sin rule the movies.

Forbidden Hollywood is a history of "pre-Code" like none other: you will eavesdrop on production conferences, read nervous telegrams from executives to censors, and hear Americans argue about "immoral" movies. You will see decisions artfully wrought, so as to fool some of the people long enough to get films into theaters. You will read what theater managers thought of such craftiness, and hear from fans as they applauded creativity or condemned crassness. You will see how these films caused a grass-roots movement to gain control of Hollywood-and why they were "forbidden" for fifty years.

The book spotlights the twenty-two films that led to the strict new Code of 1934, including Red-Headed Woman, Call Her Savage, and She Done Him Wrong. You'll see Paul Muni shoot a path to power in the original Scarface; Barbara Stanwyck climb the corporate ladder on her own terms in Baby Face; and misfits seek revenge in Freaks.

More than 200 newly restored (and some never-before-published) photographs illustrate pivotal moments in the careers of Clara Bow, Joan Crawford, Norma Shearer, and Greta Garbo; and the pre-Code stardom of Claudette Colbert, Cary Grant, Marlene Dietrich, James Cagney, and Mae West. This is the definitive portrait of an unforgettable era in filmmaking.

Thanks Hachette Book Group Canada and St. Martin's Press!

Weekly Book Reads (May 13)

Weekly Book Reads

Weekly Book Reads is a weekly Monday Meme that is hosted by Paranormal and Romantic Suspense Reviews:

Post the books read last week and books you plan on finishing this week.

Read Last Week:

1.  Neon Prey - John Sandford
2.  Batter Off Dead - Maymee Bell

Weekly Book Reading:

1.  Last Second - Catherine Coulter
2.  Nothing to Hide - Allison Brennan

Nathan Wrann's A Curse Of The Lucky Blog Tour with a Spotlight, Excerpt and Giveaway

 

I am so excited to have Nathan Wrann at Paranormal and Romantic Suspense Reviews with a Spotlight, Excerpt and Giveaway.

Thanks Nathan and Goddess Fish Promotions for allowing me to join your A Curse Of The Lucky Blog Tour!

Please take it away, Nathan!

A Curse of the Lucky
by Nathan Wrann
GENRE: YA Paranormal

BLURB

Two things that Jack Smith has always had: bad legs and bad luck. With a violent attack at the Tarrytown Independence Day Carnival, that bad luck has caught up to him with deadly consequences. Going on the run with Jaelle – the mysterious girl of his dreams–he descends into a world of curses, blessings, and fortunetelling Gypsies. The deeper he gets, the more he realizes she might just be the one to save his life or end it.

The Mr. Lucky Trilogy begins with A Curse of the Lucky.

EXCERPT


Jaelle’s brow furrowed, her eyes darkened, lost in the shadow cast by the bulb overhead. Her jaw clenched and her mouth closed tight. I could see her swallow. The fun game of ‘I Know Something You Don’t Know’ came to an abrupt end. She took a few steps back, toward an inky corner of the tent. I could hardly see her as she turned to face me.

“Bad.”

“What? I’m bad?”

“It’s bad.”

A boisterous laugh erupted, cutting through the monotony of the workers outside the tent.

Jaelle burst from the shadows and grabbed my arm. “My uncle! You must go.” She yanked me to my feet. I stumbled to the door flap as I attempted to get a grip on my crutches.

The laugh erupted again and turned into a drunken howl of a line from a song. It came from right outside the door.

Jaelle shoved me across the tent into the shadowed corner next to the antique armoire. She pushed me behind it and opened one of the doors to hide me. Yanking a long dress out of the armoire, she draped it over the door so that it hung down, obscuring the lower half of my body. She leapt back to the cot and sat down.

The Big Man in Black surged into the tent, flinging the door flap up and over his shoulder. The flap hooked onto the corner of a stowed “Fortunes $20” sign, leaving the doorway wide open. From my position, hidden behind the armoire, I could see that the Meat-On-A-Stick trailer — that had been next door — was gone. An empty lot left in its place.

A fermented cloud of alcohol followed her uncle in, and filled the tent. The slow patter of heavy raindrops tapped on the canvas roof.

As he crossed the tent, the Big Man in Black slurred something to Jaelle. Even if he had said it in English, I doubt I would have understood.

She responded with a downcast tone in the same language. I assumed it was some form of Gypsy language.

He dropped down on the cot next to her. Jaelle immediately stood. She crossed the tent to the armoire and looked me dead in the eye as she pulled a lock box out of the cabinet. Strange to realize at the time, but the sweet woody vanilla smell was coming from her, not the tent.

She carried the box back to her uncle and held it out for him. He took the metal box in one hand and grabbed her wrist with the other. Pulling her down hard, she landed on the cot beside him. Rain pounded on the canvas overhead.

Jaelle’s uncle dug into his pocket and produced a wad of cash. He flipped open the box, grabbed another stack of money, and combined the two piles. He swayed back and forth softly mumble-singing as he thumbed the edge of each bill.

Jaelle said something and inched away from him. She didn’t get far, as he grabbed her upper arm and glared at her. He glanced back at the hefty stack of cash in his hand, sighed, and started thumbing through it again. I could see his lips moving as he counted each bill.

As he got to the end of the stack Jaelle edged away from him a little more. Her eyes flicked my direction and I could see the muscles in her jaw clench.

After counting the last bill, his attention shot to her and he slurred a spittle-filled rant at her.

“No, Uncle. I didn’t. I promise,” Jaelle responded. Fear replaced the defiant tone of her voice.

He grabbed her by the back of the neck and yanked her right beside him on the cot.

He slammed the lock box down on her lap with the lid open, and ripped a bill from the top of the stack. He dropped the bill in the box and said “One.” Then another bill and counted it off. Then another. Dropping each in the box.

“Uncle, I didn’t —”

The Big Man in Black threw the stack of cash in the lock box and grabbed her by the throat. She reacted instantly, instinctively. Both hands shot up, slapping away his attempted choke.

The violence knocked the lock box and launched it off of her lap. The cash bloomed in the air like an errant firework, and rained down around them.

The Big Man in Black’s face stiffened and distorted with rage. His glazed eyes awakened. His flesh turned maroon. He threw Jaelle to the wood-plank floor and dropped to his knees, straddling her. She struggled but was no match for his strength or size. He raised his hand and brought the back of it down across her cheek.

“Hey! Leave her alone!” I burst from behind the armoire.

He hesitated. His jaw dropped open and his eyes went wide. I had held the element of surprise but could do nothing with it. He was on his feet and charging faster than I could believe. He had already been prepared for a fight, his drunkenness drowned out in adrenaline. I planted my crutches and hurtled toward him. My feet hit the ground. The leg braces held steady, and I pushed off. Pain exploded through my knees and hips, but it didn’t matter. My shoulder slammed into his midsection.

AUTHOR Bio 

Nathan Wrann was born in Florida and moved around a lot as a child, growing up in New York, New Hampshire, Connecticut, California and finally back to Florida. No matter where he lived you would likely find Marvel Comics or a book in his hand with genres ranging from fantasy (The Black Cauldron), to SE Hinton's teen dramas (The Outsiders), to Stephen King's entire catalogue from Carrie through Tommyknockers. At the age of seventeen he joined the U.S. Army as a Military Policeman, and following that, graduated from Southern Connecticut State University with a degree in video production and theater.

Currently Mr. Wrann is a writer, publisher and (formerly) independent filmmaker living in West Haven, Connecticut with his rescued Chihuahuas Napoleon and Gatsby, pain-in-the-butt cat Konstantine, and wife Kimberly. Nowadays, in between books, you'll find him enjoying horror films, YA Paranormal TV series (Vampire Diaries, Sabrina, etc), and the Marvel and Star Wars Cinematic Universes.

Links

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005165L8O

Twitter: @nathanwrann https://twitter.com/nathanwrann?lang=en

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorNathanWrann/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nwrann/

Author’s Note RE: the Mr. Lucky Trilogy & Dark Matter Heart:

The Mr. Lucky Trilogy is a Dark Matter Heart World Expander. The events in this series take place in the same world, with the same paranormal concepts and rules as Dark Matter Heart, but with all new characters and adventures. Opportunity abounds for crossover stories bringing all the characters together.

It is not necessary to read Dark Matter Heart to enjoy the Mr. Lucky Trilogy, but I think you’ll like it.

Get Book One: Dark Matter Heart FREE here: http://amzn.to/DMHKindle

Get Book Two: From Out of Chaos FREE here

https://mailchi.mp/f5ce21a5921c/freedmh2

Thank you Dear Reader, we have much fun ahead of us.

-Nathan Wrann

GIVEAWAY

Nathan Wrann will be awarding a $10 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f3025

Please follow the rest of the tour here, thanks:

http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2019/04/book-blast-curse-of-lucky-by-nathan.html

Weekly Book Reads (May 6)

Weekly Book Reads

Weekly Book Reads is a weekly Monday Meme that is hosted by Paranormal and Romantic Suspense Reviews:

Post the books read last week and books you plan on finishing this week.

Read Last Week:

1.  Hide and Seek - Mary Burton

Weekly Book Reading:

1. Neon Prey - John Sandford

Library Haul 2019 (May 5 - 11)

Library Haul

Here's the list of books/manga/manhwa/yaoi manga I picked up this week at the library:

Hardcover:

1.  The Last Second - Catherine Coulter

Cookbooks:

1.  Fix-It and Forget-It Slow Cooker Dump Dinners and Desserts - Hope Comerford
2.  Taste of Home Slow Cooker Throughout the Year

Pork Chile Verde

 

Ingredients 

1 boneless pork sirloin roast (3 pounds), cut into 1-inch cubes
4 medium carrots, sliced
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 can (28 ounces) green enchilada sauce
1/4 cup cold water
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
1 cup minced fresh cilantro
Hot cooked rice
Flour tortillas, warmed

Directions 

1.  In a large skillet, saute the pork, carrots, onion and garlic in oil in batches until pork is browned. Transfer to a 5-qt. slow cooker. Add the enchilada sauce, water, jalapenos and cilantro. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours or until meat is tender. Serve with rice and tortillas.

Editor's Note:  Wear disposable gloves when cutting hot peppers; the oils can burn skin. Avoid touching your face.

May Releases

7th
Storm Cursed - Patricia Briggs


31st
An Unexpected Song - Iris Johansen