Today I’m welcoming author, K. A. Davis to my blog.
Kim Davis lives in Southern California with her husband, near wildfire country. In addition to authoring suspense novel, A GAME OF DECEIT, she writes the Cinnamon, Sugar, and a Little Bit of Murder blog and has several children’s articles published in a variety of magazines. When not busy with her granddaughters, she can be found writing her next book and blog, baking, or working on her photography skills. K. A. Davis is a member of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime.
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Thanks for hosting me on your blog, Evelyn! I appreciate the chance to share an excerpt from my debut suspense novel, A Game of Deceit. I chose a few paragraphs from Chapter Fourteen because I was inspired to write this scene after having to evacuate my two young granddaughters from the Portola fire in Southern California in 2007. I personally enjoy other authors who weave their own life experiences into their stories and find their books richer in detail and emotions. I would like to mention that thanks to the brave efforts of the firefighters, my family did not lose their home.
A Game of Deceit
A father’s disappearance never solved, a mother’s secret taken to the grave, a daughter deceived…
Kathryn Landry thinks her life is just about perfect. She is the owner of a successful interior designer business in Newport Beach, California, and she has an attentive, supportive husband. But her world comes crashing down when her husband, Neil Landry, vanishes without a trace… in a situation almost identical to the disappearance of her father twenty years before.
With her father’s disappearance still a mystery, Kathryn is skeptical that the detective assigned to her case will be able to find her husband. Determined to uncover the truth, Kathryn is plunged into a world of politics, high-priced call girls and wealth. As she begins to search for her husband, a decades-old secret her mother took to the grave threatens to destroy all she holds dear. Caught up in a web of betrayals and deceit, and not knowing who to trust, Kathryn must find a way to survive as she discovers the past has a way of repeating itself.
Here is an Excerpt:
He came to a stop and rolled down his window when they reached the barrier. They were greeted by a blast of hot, sooty air. Kathryn thought the officer manning the barricade looked like a bandit. His cowboy-style hat was pulled low, mirrored sunglasses hid his eyes and a dark blue bandana covered his nose and mouth. His khaki-colored uniform had turned a dusty gray with matching combat boots.
“Hey Mike, glad you made it,” the sheriff’s deputy said after pulling down the bandana. “Captain says we can give you about twenty minutes to get in and evacuate your horses.”
“Thanks, Rudy, I owe you one.”
“Not a problem,” the deputy answered, pulling the roadblock aside. “Just do me a favor and get out of here as quickly as you can. This fire has a mind of its own, jumping roads and firebreaks like I’ve never seen. I’d hate for you and your friend to get caught in the middle of it.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll be out of here before you know it.”
Kathryn started choking on the thick smoke that had swirled into the Explorer. Her breathing became more rapid and her palms started sweating.
What are you getting yourself into? Is it too late to back out?
Mike quickly rolled the window up and turned the air conditioning on high before finally turning off onto a single-lane blacktop road blocked by an elegant, wrought-iron electric gate. He pushed the remote button attached to the sun visor and the gate slowly opened. The road wound between pastures enclosed by once-pristine white fences, now grimy with soot. Drab olive-green eucalyptus trees lined the drive. The murky air caused the SUV’s headlights to come on. They crossed a stone bridge under which a dry river bed ran, then turned a bend in the road and his house came into view. But they didn’t notice. Instead, their eyes were riveted on the fifty-foot roaring flames shooting up from the hill behind Mike’s house, less than a mile away.
My Review
Suspenseful and intriguing, this well-plotted debut novel grabbed my attention from the first page. A fast-paced read full of twists and turns kept me guessing. Corruption, murder, embezzlement, and more. The protagonist’s deep involvement with two male characters had me turning the pages to see how it would end.
The only reservation I had, and it’s not huge, is that I found it odd to see recipes at the back of a suspense novel. They’re usually only in cozy mysteries. Of course, it’s a writer’s prerogative to put whatever she wants in her book, it just kind of threw me.
I wish the author much luck, and hope she goes on to write more novels. Love the cover, by the way.
