Hello, lovelies! It gives me great pleasure today to host Eileen
Dreyer and her new book, “Head Games”!
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 $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card!! Also, come back daily to interact with Eileen
and to increase your chances of winning!
Thanks for stopping
by! Wishing you lots of luck in this
fabulous giveaway!
Head Games
by Eileen Dreyer
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: Mystery/Suspense
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
She's seen it all, until…Head Games, a Medical Thriller from
Eileen Dreyer —St. Louis, Missouri-Present Day—
St.
Louis death investigator and trauma nurse Molly Burke has seen just about
everything, until gifts begin showing up on her doorstep—gifts like human eyes
and painted bones—the signature of a twisted serial killer.
Complicating
the dangerous situation, Molly’s 16-year-old nephew unexpectedly shows up on
her doorstep, with problems of his own.
Now,
Molly must balance the investigation into the mind of a monster, who’s taking
her back to the worst years of her life, while launching a rescue mission for
her nephew. The question is, will she survive either?
Publisher’s Note: No one writes medical thrillers better than former Trauma Nurse,
Eileen Dreyer. This tight medical thriller contains profanity consistent with
the salty speech of crime investigators and does NOT contain sexual
content.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
READER REVIEWS:
Check out what readers are saying about Eileen Dreyer’s exciting
new book:
“A tensely plotted thriller that compels the reader to the last
shocking page…Dreyer deftly displays her droll sense of humor while spinning a
tale of taut terror…complex, riveting, funny, and compelling.”
~
The Denver Post
“Nearly flawless. The dialogue is witty, yet shot through with
verisimilitude. The insights into hospitals, medical examiners’ offices, police
departments, and the military are stunning.”
~
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT ONE:
There
is comfort in ritual.
There
is order.
There
is the security of knowing that our most precious needs can be protected by
enclosing them within the high, strong walls of familiarity and precision.
Kenny
understood this. He recognized the need for ritual, the joy of it. He cherished
the keen anticipation of each deliberate act.
One
of the keystones of Kenny's ritual was the ten o'clock news. Kenny watched the
news the way other people read obituaries. Once he knew his name wasn't
mentioned, he could get on with planning the next day's work.
But
not just the ten o'clock news. The ten o'clock news on Channel 7, who tended to
carry the more gruesome stories. Kenny liked to hear the breathless outrage in
anchorwoman Donna Kirkland's soft voice when she said words like startling and
gruesome, almost as if she derived sexual pleasure from them. But that wasn't
something he figured he should dwell on when he had his new friend with him, as
he did tonight.
Flower.
Her name was Flower. It was such a wonderful name, Kenny thought, turning to
her.
"Ten
o'clock is the only time to watch news," he told her as he settled himself
back down on the nubby brown couch and wrapped his arm around her shoulder.
"Today,"
Donna Kirkland intoned with barely suppressed delight, "a grisly discovery
in Forest Park..."
Grisly.
Another word she seemed to get off on. He smiled. He had his beer, Flower was
here with him, and there was murder on television. And to make it all perfect,
Donna the anchor—Kenny always thought of her as that: Donna the anchor, as if
it were her entire name—was excited by it.
"...two
park rangers found the partially clothed body of a woman in the woods while
clearing brush,” she cooed.
On
the TV, the camera panned over the obligatory stand of dead trees silhouetted
against a gray sky. Caught clustered in a fold of land like cattle sheltering
against the wind stood about a half dozen uniformed officers and an ambulance
cart.
"...two
park rangers found the partially clothed body of a woman in the woods while
clearing brush,” she cooed. "We spoke with a representative of the Medical
Examiner's office a few minutes ago.
The
TV now showed a woman who stood before the downtown police station quietly
listening to a question being asked off camera. Kenny saw her and forgot the
story entirely.
His
heart suddenly raced. Squinting, he leaned closer.
"My
God," he whispered, stunned.
She
was petite, small-boned, and trim. Short, neat auburn hair. Bright brown eyes
with laugh lines and lots of experience stamped on almost pretty features,
small hands tucked in the pockets of a serviceable gray suit jacket.
Older,
much older, it seemed to Kenny. But then, so was he.
"My
God," he breathed again, shaking his head. "It's her. Why didn't I
know?"
"The
Medical Examiner believes the victim to have been at the site for about four
days," she was saying with appropriate solemnity. "We won't know the
cause of death until the autopsy has been performed in the morning."
Kenny
always remembered her smiling. But he remembered this look even better. Her sad
look. Kenny remembered her looking at him this way, like she wanted to say
something or do something that could make it all different.
Maybe
that was why he suddenly recognized her. He'd finally seen her sad look. The
look he'd always thought was all his.
Forgetting
his beer, forgetting his friend Flower, he focused on the TV, so excited he
could hardly think.
"Molly
Burke is a death investigator for the city of St. Louis," Brenda the
anchor said.
"Molly..."
Kenny's laugh was sudden. "Oh my god, Molly. Yes, of course!"
He
turned to Flower, truly thrilled. "You don't understand," he said.
"I knew her. I know her. I wondered for so long what's become of her, and
now to realize that she's been right here, that I've seen her! I've just got to
let her know I'm back."
Kenny
turned off the TV. He had things to do. For more than twenty years he'd been anticipating
what he'd do if this very moment ever came. He'd been practicing hard in his
head so that it would be perfect. Tilting the long-neck Busch up to finish it,
he set the bottle down and stood up.
"Time
for lights out," he said to Flower. "I'm going to have a busy day
tomorrow."
His
friend Flower smiled back. But then, she always smiled. So Kenny smiled as
well, because tonight he was happy, too. Then, with the exquisite care he
showed all his friends, he lifted her head off her shoulders and put it back in
the refrigerator where it belonged. Then, turning off the lights, he went to
bed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR BIO:
New
York Times Bestselling, award-winning author Eileen Dreyer has published
40 novels and 10 short stories under her name and that of her evil twin,
Kathleen Korbel in contemporary romance, paranormal romance, historical
romance, romantic suspense, mystery and medical forensic suspense. A proud
member of RWA's Hall of FAME, she also has numerous awards from RT BookLovers
and an Anthony nomination for mystery. She is now focusing on what she calls
historic romantic adventure in her DRAKE'S RAKES series. A native of St. Louis,
she still lives there with her family. She has animals but refuses to subject
them to the limelight.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CONNECT WITH EILEEN:
Website:
Newsletter:
Email:
eileendreyer@eileendreyer.com
Yahoo Group:
Facebook:
Twitter:
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BookBub Author Page – Eileen Dreyer:
BookBub Author Page – Kathleen Korbel:
BookBub Book Page:
Goodreads Author Page – Kathleen Korbel:
Goodreads Author Page – Eileen Dreyer:
Goodreads Book Page:
Amazon Author Page – Eileen Dreyer:
Amazon Author Page – Kathleen Korbel:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BOOK BUY LINKS:
Amazon Kindle eBook:
Amazon Mass Market Paperback:
Amazon Paperback:
Amazon Hardcover:
Apple Books eBook:
Barnes and Noble NOOK eBook:
Barnes and Noble Paperback:
The Book Depository Paperback:
BAM! Books-A-Million Paperback:
Google Play eBook:
Kobo eBook:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY INFO:
Eileen will be awarding a $25 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 is 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.**
Eileen ~ Good morning! Welcome back! It is so great to have you here again! Congrats on your exciting new book and good luck on the book tour! :)
ReplyDeleteP.S. ~ Totally love the book cover!! It looks so climatic, frightening and suspenseful!! Can't wait to check it out :)
Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeletevery good excerpt. thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteHappy Friday! I hope that you've enjoyed your book tour and I wish you the best of luck in all of your future endeavors. I am looking forward to reading your stories. Have a great weekend!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, everybody! I do hope you enjoy Molly and all her crew.
ReplyDelete