What’s on your ebook?
26 Jun- Comments Leave a Comment
- Categories Astrology, Crime fiction, ebook, Short story, Writing
Mystery cloud: HIDE IN PLAIN SIGHT
22 MarHIDE IN PLAIN SIGHT, mystery-thriller by ALAN ANNAND: A man assumes his twin brother’s identity in order to alibi his own wife who’s accidentally killed his brother in an argument. But when he finds himself sharing a bed with his beautiful sister-in-law, he faces bigger challenges and harder choices.
4.5-star rating on Amazon. Available in ebook form for only $0.99 or its equivalent via Amazon, Apple, Barnes&Noble, Flipkart, Kobo and Smashwords.
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Alan Annand is a graduate of the American College of Vedic Astrology and the British Faculty of Astrological Studies. He’s both a practicing astrologer and a crime novelist. His NEW AGE NOIR series (Scorpio Rising, Felonious Monk, Soma County) features astrologer Axel Crowe, whom one reviewer dubbed “Sherlock Holmes with a horoscope.”
Websites: www.navamsa.com, www.sextile.com
Tags: #newagenoir, hide in plain sight
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- Categories Crime fiction, ebook, Literary marketplace, Writing
HIDE IN PLAIN SIGHT: ebook giveaway
20 JulHIDE IN PLAIN SIGHT (psychological mystery thriller): A man assumes the identity of his dead twin brother in order to alibi his guilty wife.
Alex Carson is in mid-life freefall. He owes a quarter million in back taxes, his bipolar wife Connie keeps going off her meds, and his dog’s just died. When his estranged twin brother Dave, a multi-millionaire with a disease that’s reduced him to crutches, invites him for a weekend visit, Alex is so eager to escape his own reality that he accepts, even though his wife decides at the last minute to tag along.
Over drinks that evening, Dave tells them he suspects his wife Kristina of having an affair. Uninterested in Dave’s marital problems, Connie seeks sympathy for Alex’s tax debt and asks for a loan, which Dave refuses. In a fit of anger, Connie knocks Dave down a flight of stairs and accidentally kills him.
Given their motive and opportunity, Alex and Connie fear a murder charge if they inform the police, so he decides to take Dave’s place long enough for her to return home and establish an alibi. In a few days, he’ll engineer Dave’s “death” all over again, and escape to rejoin her. Although she suspects he just wants to sleep with Dave’s wife Kristina, she’s forced to go along with the plan.
It’s supposed to be simple but it gets very complicated. Kristina is drop-dead gorgeous, and lying next to her at night gives Alex a libidinous fever. Ironically, when it also comes to light that Dave appears to have been having an affair with their hot-blooded domestic, Alex finds himself trapped in a ménage-a-trois from hell.
And now someone is trying to kill him…
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For a limited time, HIDE IN PLAIN SIGHT is free in all ebook formats at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/59291.
If you take advantage of this offer, please consider writing a review on Smashwords and/or Goodreads.
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Alan Annand is an astrologer and writer of crime fiction whose books are available at Amazon, Apple, Barnes&Noble, Kobo and Smashwords.
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Tags: hide in plain sight, mystery, psychological, thriller
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- Categories Crime fiction, ebook, Writing
Triple-pack promo of mystery thrillers this week
4 MarHARM’S WAY
$0.99 on Amazon www.amazon.com/Harms-Way-ebook/dp/B005LVXIA2
FREE on Smashwords www.smashwords.com/books/view/86740
HIDE IN PLAIN SIGHT
$2.99 on Amazon www.amazon.com/Hide-in-Plain-Sight-ebook/dp/B0050K1EZA
HALF PRICE this week only on Smashwords
www.smashwords.com/books/view/59291
SCORPIO RISING
$2.99 on Amazon www.amazon.com/Scorpio-Rising-ebook/dp/B0050IOY6I
HALF PRICE this week only on Smashwords
www.smashwords.com/books/view/59231
Tags: alan annand, free, harm's way, hide in plain sight, mystery, promotion, scorpio rising, thriller
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- Categories ebook, Literary marketplace
Hide in Plain Sight: book review by Val Tobin @ Suite101
9 OctTake one rich twin and one poor twin, throw in a bipolar wife, shake violently, and you have the makings of another delicious crime novel by Alan Annand.
Alex Carson’s life has turned into a country song. He owes the government thousands of dollars in taxes, courtesy of his fraudulent accountant; his wife, Connie, is bipolar and his dog is dying. What he doesn’t realize is, things are going to get much worse. During a visit to Alex’s wealthy brother Dave, which Connie turns into a quest to get financial assistance, Connie causes Dave’s death after a heated argument.
Alex decides that the only way out of this mess is to take Dave’s place and allow Connie to go establish an alibi, thereby avoiding the ordeal of having to ‘fess up to the police about what had transpired. The execution of Alex’s creative solution makes for a crazy wild ride as we tag along in Alex’s first person narrative.
Inside the Mind of Alex Carson
According to Annand, who agreed to talk with Suite101 about his book, his use of the first person was designed to, among other things, “oblige the reader to suffer in sympathy with Alex, no matter what morally questionable actions he had to follow through on.” And suffer the reader does. Exquisitely.
During this charade, Alex must share a bed with his beautiful sister-in-law, a woman stolen from Alex by Dave years before. He must also maneuver his way around Dave’s various existing relationships, including one with the housekeeper, with whom Dave may or may not have been having an affair.
Following Alex on his adventures in Dave Land makes compelling enough reading, but the questions that arise about what was going on in Dave’s life at the time of his death compound the intrigue and the tension. When you also factor in the logistical issues with which Alex must contend, reading the story becomes an addiction.
Guillain-Barré Syndrome, Bipolar Disorder and How to Dispose of a Corpse
Annand, as always, has done his research to make everything in his novel authentic and credible. Dave suffered from Guillain-Barré Syndrome, something with which Annand was familiar via an extended family member who had the disease. Having Dave suffer from GBS was a unique twist that makes things more demanding for Alex playing Dave, and of course makes it more entertaining for the reader. Connie’s bipolar disorder also spices things up, but it also provides a glimpse of what it might be like to be married to someone who is bipolar.
The most intriguing questions presented by the novel, and dealt with deftly by Annand, however, relate to Dave’s body and how Alex deals with it: How can Alex store the corpse? Where will he keep it? How can he obscure the time of death? How can he create a new, believable cause of death? Can he really pull it off? Should he really pull it off? The practical considerations run neck and neck with the ethical ones.
Tension and Sleepless Nights with Hide in Plain Sight
Alan Annand has an uncanny knack for forcing the reader to read at breakneck speed to get past all the tense moments, while at the same time making him/her wish the ride would never end. The first time you read Hide in Plain Sight, you will want to savor it, but it’ll be impossible. As the tension and questions mount, you can’t help but read as fast as you can to see what happens next. It is a most delightful form of torture.
Don’t pick up this book if you’re looking for a bedtime reading cure for insomnia. But if you’re looking for suspense, tension and the queasiness that comes from participating in questionable activities, then this book is for you. This is the perfect book to take on a flight or on vacation.
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HIDE IN PLAIN SIGHT (psychological mystery suspense) eBook $2.99, paper $9.99. A man assumes his twin brother’s identity in order to alibi his own wife who’s accidentally killed his brother in an argument. But when he finds himself sharing a bed with his beautiful sister-in-law, he faces bigger challenges and harder choices.
www.amazon.com/Hide-in-Plain-Sight-ebook/dp/B0050K1EZA
www.smashwords.com/books/view/59291
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Val Tobin is a Feature Writer for Suite101. Formerly a software developer, she has pursued her interests in the occult, paranormal and spiritual fields through formal studies in nutrition, mediumship and parapsychology, all of which have become active professional avenues. For more information, see her website at: http://www.serenitynowgifts.com/
Tags: alan annand, book review, ebook, hide in plain sight, murder, mystery, suspense, thriller, twins
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- Categories Book review, ebook
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