Some Great Blurbs

Those of us who write books always try to get blurbs from famous authors who will praise our work. This is what you see on the front and back of the book jacket. I was gobsmacked by the quotes I got from two best-selling authors who read Saving Myles. Here they are:

“From the opening of his tour-de-force thriller Saving Myles, Carl Vonderau had me hooked. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. But Saving Myles isn’t just a tightly woven and utterly compelling thriller. It’s also a profound exploration of the sacrifices we’re willing to make to protect the people we love. Vonderau is an author whose storytelling ability promises a great future. I, for one, look forward eagerly to whatever he’ll offer readers next.”

—William Kent Krueger, New York Times best-selling author

“Carl Vonderau paints his world with words and SAVING MYLES is his masterpiece. Taut, gut-wrenching and heartfelt, SAVING MYLES grabs you in a velvet vise of eloquent prose, elegant descriptions and honest dialog and tells a twisty, expertly plotted, and character driven tale of kidnapping, cartels and family upheaval. If you haven't heard of Carl Vonderau yet, you will after SAVING MYLES.”

—Matt Coyle, author of the Shamus, Anthony and Lefty Award-winning Rick Cahill crime series

Saving Myles comes out in August and you can pre-order it now.

Joshua Mohr and childhood trauma

Joshua Mohr’s memoir, Model Citizen, tells his harrowing journey into and out of drug addiction. His father was an alcoholic preacher who deserted the family, and his mother an alcoholic mother who ignored him. Nature and nurture induced him to start drugs young. For many years he loved the chaos of that life. Needless to say, his relationships suffered. What changed him? The right wife and, most of all, a child he wanted to help grow up. Mohr has had four strokes because of blood clots but stays sober to stay alive for his child, as well as to protect her from what he might do. The book is written in short scenes that skip backward and forward and give a real sense of an addict’s anguish. He struggles minute by minute to resist that one drink or drug that will leave his life in ruins.

Mohr’s childhood was traumatic. When he was in second grade, a man lured him into a men’s room and sexually assaulted him. He told what happened to his class and nothing happened. No one defended or protected him. When he told his mom, she yelled at him to use his head. If that happened today, Child Protective Services would swoop in. Not then. Child abuse wasn’t an issue people talked about.

It wasn’t much of a topic when I was a teenager either. I was fifteen and a competitive swimmer when I went with the coach and some other boys for a swim meet out of town. I don’t even remember the city. Two of the boys shared a hotel room and I shared a room with the coach, an unmarried man. The coach and I slept in the same bed. I remember us wrestling and giggling and didn’t think anything of it. It’s only now that I’m an adult and a parent that it looks suspicious. But nothing happened. I wonder now if there was something else going on in that coach’s mind. If there was, I’m thankful he didn’t act on it and shatter my innocence.

Tune in for our next event on February 11 at 2:00 pm, Pacific Time, to welcome Ron Niezen. I will interview Ron about war crimes investigation. He will draw on what happened in Libya, West Africa, and the January 6 insurgency. 

He’ll also touch on how AI-driven digital methods are finding their way into ordinary police work. We’ll discuss Ron’s first novel, The Memory Seeker, in which an investigator in the International Criminal Court at the Hague discovers his own family’s dark secrets. Ron Niezen teaches at McGill University, San Diego State and the Kroc Center for Peace Studies.

Register in advance for this meeting:
https://sistersincrime-org.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJErc-mhrTIjHdUXm7U-YkU-xaktar3ZoUzw

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

What’s dead doesn’t always stay buried.

Whether it be in a small town, an abandoned asylum, or a bustling city, no one is safe from the ugliest parts of human nature. A social media influencer, a college student, a detective – titles make no difference when death plays Russian Roulette.

Question is, who will be next?

Fourteen bestselling authors offer up their sacrifice in GRAVE DANGERS, a collection of thriller, horror, and suspense stories that will chill you to the bone and encourage you to double check that window lock.

Preorder now for $0.99, releases March 7th

A series of murders. An undercover operation in a small town.

A new start with a small FBI profiling unit has turned into everything I had told my boyfriend I would avoid: dangers, crazy missions, and psychotic killers. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him. At least for now.
Hope Springs is a small town with a bad attitude and a high death rate. Throw in a rotund, suspicious sheriff, a gun-toting doctor, and I have to wonder if the odds aren’t stacked against me?

When Deputy Matthew appears on my radar with his wide smile, and dead fiancé, my investigation suddenly takes a terrifying turn. The killer hunting Hope Springs’ residents is closer to me than I’d feared, and I may not make it out of this alive.

Download free here

The victim; The murderer; The survivor; The hero. But who do you believe?

British soldier, Aimee Price, is hailed as a hero for saving a man’s life. But traumatic flashbacks of the explosion, and a loss of confidence, force her to hide from the limelight.

Twelve years later, Jones, the man she saved, is arrested for a murder he claims he didn’t commit. Can she believe him when she has a history with the victim and Jones has a tendency for violence?

Aimee must discover the truth, even if it means losing her job, all while trying to live a normal life and start dating again. But can she put the past behind her, even when it’s determined to destroy her by opening old wounds?

Download a sample here