Hello lovelies! It gives me great pleasure today to host Marilynn
Larew and her new book, “Hong Kong Central”!
For other stops on her Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tour, please click
on the banner above or any of the images in this post.
Be sure to make it to the end
of this post to enter to win a $10 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card!! Also, come back daily to interact with Marilynn
and to increase your chances of winning!
This book is on SALE
during the book tour for ONLY $0.99!!!
See below for more details.
Thanks for stopping by! Wishing you lots of luck in this fabulous
giveaway!
Hong Kong Central
by Marilynn Larew
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GENRE: Thriller
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BLURB:
Despite
the fact that she quit the CIA, Lee Carruthers is in Hong Kong doing a little
job for Sidney Worthington. He’s thinks something is wrong at Wong’s Antiques.
Lee finds Henry Wong—just as he’s being kidnapped by the Chau Fong Triad. What
does a Triad want with an antiquities dealer? That’s one of many questions, as
Lee reunites with an old lover, is caught in the middle of burgeoning democracy
demonstrations, and uncovers secrets that may once again upend her life.
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EXCERPT:
Hong
Kong never sleeps. It was almost midnight, and the traffic was heavy, the neon
signs flashing on and off, but Upper Lascar Row was quiet, the tables of
tourist junk pulled inside the shops for the night. I walked softly in the
shadows on the right side of the cobblestone street, looking for Wong Antiques
among the red-lacquered shop fronts with signs in Chinese and English picked
out in gold. The hairs on the back of my neck were prickling as if someone were
watching me, and I jumped when a cat crossed the road. How could anybody be following
me? I only got to Hong Kong three hours ago.
In
the dim light, I saw Wong Antiques halfway up the block on the left-hand side.
The only light showing was in the back, a nightlight or an office. I had
crossed the street to the shop and had rung the bell once when I heard
footsteps coming up the street. I slipped back across the street and melted
into the doorway of a shop. Someone turned the light on in the antique shop,
and a thin man wearing a blue scholar’s robe walked to the door. Henry Wong?
The footsteps I heard materialized as two large men in suits. They banged on
the door, and the man backed up. They banged on the door again, and he opened
it unwillingly. The men were Chinese, bulky in the way a fighter is bulky,
probably showing tattoos under their white shirts.
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REVIEW:
This
book was such an intriguing, exciting, suspenseful, mysterious, adventurous,
and thrilling read!
This
book is about an ex-CIA agent, Lee Carruthers, who is finally on some much-needed
R&R after some close calls on her last mission, when she hears from her former
boss, Sidney Worthington. Lee can never
turn a job down, especially when it’s Sidney asking. Besides, according to Sidney it’s supposed to
be an easy, but urgent job – just check in on a source and friend. Sidney hadn’t heard from him in two months,
which is quite concerning since he normally hears from him weekly as he has for
the past twenty years. So, Lee agrees to
fly to Hong Kong and to check-in on Henry Wong, the antiques dealer of Wong
Antiques. She arrives just in time to
see him being taken by the triad. Lee
acts fast to try to save Henry, but ultimately loses them in the chase. Now knowing that Henry is truly in danger Lee
is on the case to save Henry and find out what he is mixed up in. This “simple” case becomes anything but that
when Lee accidentally gets caught up with the pro-democracy demonstrators, the Chinese
Government gets involved, more disappearances and murder occur, Lee’s ex-lover turns
up, Lee learns that this case has a connection to her father, and so much more,
but Lee is determined at all costs to get to the bottom of it, find her answers
and solve the case.
This
book has an excellent storyline that flows, terrific writing style with
detailed scenes, fantastic characters, is fast paced, and keeps you completely
entertained through the last page.
This
book has exceptional mystery crime solving structure with enough clues and
excitement to keep you guessing, but still practical and realistic.
I really liked the main character, Lee. She is confident, sassy, tough, intelligent – a total badass! I love books with strong female leads and Lee is exactly that! She is likable, genuine, and someone you can’t stop rooting for. I felt instantly invested in her outcome and enjoyed solving the case alongside her.
I really liked the main character, Lee. She is confident, sassy, tough, intelligent – a total badass! I love books with strong female leads and Lee is exactly that! She is likable, genuine, and someone you can’t stop rooting for. I felt instantly invested in her outcome and enjoyed solving the case alongside her.
I
love how this author included historical, cultural, and custom references in
her writings as this gives the book that little extra something! I honestly do not know much about Hong Kong,
besides what I’ve seen in the Jason Bourne movies and on America’s Next Top Model
episodes lol. However, this author provided
so much detail and such beautiful descriptions, I felt like I was on the
streets of Hong Kong.
Also,
the author mentioned interesting facts about Hong Kong such as their anti-noise
ordinance. I had no idea that was such a
big deal there. But I Googled it and
there are dozens of articles about how they are trying to handle this “out of
control issue” with things like noise mapping.
It said that there were 43,939 noise complaints in 2016 with a city
population of 7.2 million people. The articles
talked about how these noise issues are leading to health issues related to
sleep deprivation and headaches, etc.
Very interesting!
It’s
clear that the author is well versed in all things related to Southeast Asia
and government business including CIA practices and brings it down to a level
that can easily be understood and enjoyed by all readers.
There
are some exciting twists and turns and unexpected moments that will keep you
guessing!
This
book has so much to offer the reader, such as, action, mystery, suspense,
excitement, intrigue, adrenaline, drama, love, romance, friendship, and so much
more!
This
book is the third book in the Lee Carruthers Book Series. I had not read the first book before reading
this book. I did not get lost or
confused, so this book can be read as a standalone. However, there are many references to the
previous book and the characters seem to overlap. Since I truly liked this book, I would
suggest getting in from the beginning and starting with book one, so you don’t
miss anything.
All
in all, I really enjoyed reading this book and would absolutely recommend this
book to anyone interested in a fun, exciting, intriguing, thrilling, suspenseful,
adventurous, mystery book.
Did you find this review helpful?
If so, please, please, please mark it as
helpful on Amazon here:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/review/R2OZLILTWJKD5X
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR BIO:
Marilynn Larew is a
historian who has published in such diverse fields as American colonial and
architectural history, Vietnamese military history, and terrorism, and has
taught courses in each of them in the University of Maryland System.
This
is the third volume in the Lee Carruthers series. She has also published
Aftermath, in which the protagonist, Anne Carter, is a 1980 Baltimore PI,
working in the wake of the Vietnamese War.
She
lives with her husband in a 200-year-old brick farmhouse on the Mason-Dixon
Line in southern Pennsylvania. She belongs to Sisters in Crime, Guppies, and
Chinese Military History Society.
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BOOK BUY LINKS:
**Hong Kong Central is on SALE during the book tour for ONLY
$0.99!!!**
Amazon Kindle:
Amazon Paperback:
Barnes and Noble:
Kobo:
Apple iBooks:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY INFO:
Marilynn will be awarding a $10 Amazon or B/N GC
to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.
**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a
purchase made I may receive a small commission to help support this blog. This does not cost you anything, it just
helps pay for all those awesome giveaways on here.**
This contest is sponsored
by a third party. Fabulous and Brunette is a registered host of Goddess Fish
Promotions. Prizes are given away by the
sponsors and not Fabulous and Brunette. The featured author and Goddess Fish
Promotions are solely responsible for the giveaway prize.
Marilynn ~ It is great to have you here! Congrats on your new book and good luck on the book tour! I really enjoyed reading and reviewing your book, thanks for providing the copy! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteThe author is having some trouble commenting and asked us to pop over and thank you, Ally, for the review and for hosting today.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a good book.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing. Congrats on the release. Bernie Wallace BWallace1980(at)hotmail(d0t)com
ReplyDeleteWould you ever like to see your book turned into a movie? Congrats on the release. Bernie Wallace BWallace1980(at)hotmail(d0t)com
ReplyDelete