CITY
OF LIES
January
Bain
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE:
hard-boiled crime mystery
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
A
Gripping Tale of Identity, Crime, and Survival… Claire Preston, a
script reader for a Hollywood movie studio, has recently lost her
mother. Discovering she was adopted as a baby, she goes on a perilous
quest for her true identity.
Assisted
by her mentor, the seasoned private investigator, Jake Sterling,
Claire delves deeper into her past, only to unearth a labyrinth of
secrets more daunting than she ever envisioned. Soon, she finds
herself in the crosshairs of a ruthless serial killer—an ex-Nazi
fugitive evading justice for decades.
As
Claire confronts her heritage, grapples with danger, and races
against time to evade the clutches of a deadly predator, she finds
herself wondering: Is uncovering the truth in a city of lies even
possible?
Experience
the chilling twists and turns of a tale where identity, mystery, and
survival converge in the heart of 1968 Los Angeles.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Excerpt:
The
Sounds of Silence
The
streets were dark with something more than night.
~Raymond
Chandler
Hollywood,
April 1968
“Of
all the dirty rotten maggoty things to do. That’s my twist. You
stole my ending,” Claire Preston hissed at the movie screen.
The
story about a woman going missing and the authorities arresting her
abusive husband for murder had seemed familiar from the opening
credits. His going to prison for life and swearing his innocence,
with no one—not even his lawyer—believing him anything but
guilty. Then the dramatic twist. Her showing up on screen alive at
the end, twenty-five years later, in the visiting room at the prison
and driving the knife home. The motive and name of the movie:
Retribution. The woman had lost her unborn baby from the ongoing
abuse and could never have another, more than enough motive to do the
nasty. And all Claire’s idea.
A plot
she’d skimmed as a script reader from the seemingly endless slush
pile over at New Pictures Studio. Someone had used her notes to save
the lame script from the dustbin.
“Is
there a problem here?” The usher shone a flashlight directly in her
face, giving her a new target.
You bet
your sweet ass there’s a problem. “No problem. I was just
leaving.” It wasn’t fair to take out her ire on the pimply-faced
attendant in his ill-fitting burgundy jacket.
She
fumed all the way down the red carpeted aisle to the street exit
before shoving the cold metal door open with more force than strictly
necessary, more upset with herself for letting it get to her, than by
what she’d just witnessed.
The door
clanked closed behind her, and the cool, moist air instantly
enveloped her like a heavy embrace. An unusual turn of weather for LA
in the fall, but welcomed. Maybe it would head off the usual rash of
fires? She tugged the collar of her coat closed and yanked the belt
tight around her waist. No credit for the idea, okay, she could live
with that. But they could have at least said thank you or done
something—taken her out for a drink or a decent meal or sent her
flowers. Instead, they’re pretending it never happened.
Not
cool.
She got
into her white Ford Fairlane in front of the Starlight Theatre at the
headwaters of the Los Angeles River and headed west toward the Sunset
Strip and her small apartment on Sycamore Avenue. Why had she
bothered to stop and see the movie her friend Serena had insisted
she’d like? Now she had to live with knowing what the studio was
capable of. But then again, knowledge was power.
She
pulled out a Salem cigarette, slipped it between her lips, then
punched in the knob for the electric heater on the dash. When it was
ready, she applied the red-hot wire to the tip while drawing the
soothing heat deep into her lungs, feeling the head rush, before
letting it escape into a series of satisfying smoke rings.
The sun
was dying a slow death, making her squint in self-defense. The glare
kept her from seeing what needed to be seen, a black dog streaking
out in front of her car on the bridge. She braked hard, catching
sight of it at the last second, slamming her left foot right down to
the floorboards, the cigarette flying out of her mouth.
Her body
slammed forward, the seat belt cutting painfully into her chest. The
vehicle lurched sideways and into the path of another vehicle,
eastbound. The blacktop vanished. Unable to comprehend the speed at
which her world had imploded, Claire was helpless, the vehicle air
born. Something wet dripped into her eyes, stinging, and making her
blink rapidly in efforts to see clearly.
“Oh my
god!” The words burst from numb lips, her hands clutching at the
steering wheel in horror.
The car
slammed into the water a few seconds later, a river swollen and angry
from a torrential rainstorm earlier in the day. Terrified, she
watched the water rising around her. She struggled to undo her seat
belt, but her hands shook so badly it seemed an impossible challenge.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR
Bio and Links:
January
Bain firmly believes that stories unite us, that good stories help us
to discover the commonality of the human experience by supporting
values, empathy and understanding. January writes with her heart,
mind, and soul, hoping that her novels will touch your life, giving
you moments of freedom as you fly with her to other worlds.
The
award-winning author has had the pleasure of select novels being
turned into games, while her work is also available in different
languages.
January
and her husband live in rural Canada on peaceful acreage where a
variety of wildlife comes to visit regularly and expects to be fed
and paid attention to.
Blog
Address - http://januarybainjourney.blogspot.ca/
Twitter
Name – https://twitter.com/JanuaryBain
Facebook
Page – https://www.facebook.com/january.bain
Any
other social media -
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6437282.January_Bain
http://www.instagram.com/@january.bain)
Buy
link for City of Lies:
amazon.com/City-Lies-Hardboiled-January-Bain-ebook/dp/B0CW1G1SKG/ref=sr_1_1
Giveaway: https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f4851/
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