SleuthSayers: Going After Publicity for Your (small, precious) Book

SleuthSayers: Going After Publicity for Your (small, precious) Book: So you've got a novel coming out? If you are with one of the Big Five publishers - Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Simo...

MWASW: Crossing the Finish Line by Carol Bennetts

 MWASW: Crossing the Finish Line by Carol Bennetts

Keith Roysdon: With latest AI accusations, book publishing industry continues to melt down

Keith Roysdon: With latest AI accusations, book publishing industry continues to melt down

(h/t John A. Tures)

Women Writers, Women's Books: Judy Penz Sheluk: From Pink Slip to Published Author

 Women Writers, Women's Books: Judy Penz Sheluk: From Pink Slip to Published Author

SleuthSayers: And They Lived Happily Never After

SleuthSayers: And They Lived Happily Never After: When I was little, before I learned how to read, my dad used to read fables and fairy tales to me before I went to sleep. We had a big book,...

SleuthSayers: Emptying Pockets

SleuthSayers: Emptying Pockets: My MMPB mysteries The news may have slipped past you but last year the media was announcing the death of a familiar part of publishing.  It...

Writer Beware: Anthropic Copyright Settlement: April Update

 Writer Beware: Anthropic Copyright Settlement: April Update

A Writer's Life....Caroline Clemmons: How to Support Your Favorite Authors (Even When Money Is Tight) by Caroline Clemmons

A Writer's Life....Caroline Clemmons: How to Support Your Favorite Authors (Even When Mo...:  Why Your Support Matters   Books and groceries now compete more than ever for the same dollars, and I know many of you are watching every p...

Market: Level Best Books: NOVEL SUBMISSIONS

 Level Best Books has reopened to novel submissions. Details on their new website. 

Writer Beware: Two New Impersonation Scams to Watch For

 Writer Beware: Two New Impersonation Scams to Watch For

Writer Beware: Best of Writer Beware: 2025 in Review

 Writer Beware: Best of Writer Beware: 2025 in Review

Writer Beware: Reversion Redux

 Writer Beware: Reversion Redux

Rod Raglin: New sophisticated publishing scam targets struggling authors on Amazon

 Rod Raglin: New sophisticated publishing scam targets struggling authors on Amazon

Publication Day Review: Illusion of Truth: A Novel by James L’Etoile

 

The third book of the police procedural series that began with The Face of Greed delivers in every possible way for the reader. Illusion of Truth: A Novel begins a few months after River of Lies and starts with a bang.

 

The call out to a local church was a ploy to get police officers to respond. Allegedly, according to the caller to dispatch, there was some sort of disturbance involving a large crowd looting a church in North Sacramento. The church is located on the edge of the territory held by a certain gang though the church itself is supposed to be neutral territory and safe from all the gangs. For the several officers that responded to the scene, the place was anything but safe. Within minutes of their arrival, two separate improvised explosive devices are detonated.

 

Several officers are seriously injured in the blasts. That includes Sergent Brian Connor who recently asked Homicide Detective Emily Hunter to move in with him. She said she wasn’t ready. With his injuries now, she may never have the chance to change her mind.

 

Homicide Detective Emily Hunter is very used to getting the middle of the night call to go to a crime scene. This time the call is from a lieutenant who tells her to respond instead at the hospital. It was supposed to be his night off. Instead, Brian Connor is fighting for his life in the trauma unit.

 

Detective Hunter wants in on the investigation. One that is being led by her partner, Javier Medina. Not that he is not a good detective. He certainly is. But, she can’t just sit by. She is going to be involved, no matter what. Since that will happen anyway, her Lieutenant gives her the go ahead to work the case, but she has to follow Medina’s lead to the letter or she is benched. She agrees. Before long the case leads them in ways they never saw coming.

 

This third book in the police procedural series published by Oceanview Publishing is a good one. A read that could stand on its own if you are new to the series. But, those who choose to read the series in order will get far more out of the book.

 

One aspect of this series is the developing relationship between Hunter and Connor. So too is the evolving political scene as well as the fallout from earlier cases Hunter has worked. There are other aspects as well that continue to be developed and evolve. Those aspects are why this is a series that should be read in order.

 

Bottom Line---A very good read and strongly recommended.

 
 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3YynS1j

 

 

My digital ARC came from the author with no expectation of a read or a review.

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2026

Writer Beware: Why These Contract Clauses Are Scary

 Writer Beware: Why These Contract Clauses Are Scary

Whatever: Yes, All Those Author Services and Book Club Emails Are Fake, and No, Don’t Send Them Any Money by John Scalzi

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Market Call Facebook -- One Eyed Press

Shotgun Honey is relaunching this and they want novellas 8k to 30K. More info at  https://submissions.shotgunhoney.com/publication/one-eye-press/ 

Writers Digest: My Battle to Keep My Novel Series in the Marketplace

 Annoyingly, now that this has happened, the Dallas Public Library System has pulled his entire series from the shelves except for the audio eBooks. I don't do audio books at all as my mind won't stay locked in on a story. It wanders off deeper into the land of worries. Having read the first one through NetGalley and enjoyed it immensely, I plan to continue on with the series, but even in eBook at Amazon, it is too expensive. Very frustrating as a reader. 

Writers Digest: My Battle to Keep My Novel Series in the Marketplace

Writer Beware: Royalties in Arrears: Mango Publishing / Blushing Books / Bottlecap Press

 Writer Beware: Royalties in Arrears: Mango Publishing / Blushing Books / Bottlecap Press

SleuthSayers: Whodunit? Beats Me.

SleuthSayers: Whodunit? Beats Me.:    All of us who write and sell short stories know there are ups and downs, hills and valleys, boomtimes and dry spells. It's mostly bee...