Happy New Year

**  So the winner of the awesome bag of books never came forward. *sadness* I've sent him emails to the only email I could find... one belonging to a blog that hasn't had any activity since 2008. So with that, I've gone ahead and chosen another winner... Mr. Todd Robinson please send me your address. You can either DM me on Twitter or email it to me. And as soon as you contact me I'll get those books in the mail.  Again, many thanks for participating. Enjoy the books, sir.

*This contest is closed.  The winner is James. James, please contact me via email and send me your address. Congratulations! And thank you all for participating! 

I spent my Christmas on Twitter gifting away some of my favorite reads of 2012. I gifted Blackbirds and Mockingbird  by Chuck Wendig, City of the Lost by Stephen Blackmoore, the latest copy of Needle: A Magazine of Noir, two copies of Frank Sinatra in a Blender by Matthew J. McBride, and Dead Harvest and The Wrong Goodbye by Chris F. Holm.

And since I spent Christmas gifting away some of my favorite reads, it makes perfect sense to spend the first day of 2013 gifting away a bag full of books.  

Oh, wait. What does this bag contain, you ask?

City of the Lost by Stephen Blackmoore

Dare Me by Megan Abbott

This Dark Earth by John Hornor Jacobs

Frank Sinatra in a Blender by Matthew J. McBride

Last Call For the Living by Peter Farris

the latest Needle: A Magazine of Noir 

and

SHOTGUN HONEY: BOTH BARRELS

And, remember... even if you've read all these great books and don't think you may need them, you're wrong. Just think of how many birthday gifts you'll have on hand for this year. Plus, if you can't use the books you can always use the lovely Shotgun Honey bag for your gym clothes... or something like that.

Go on, now. What are you waiting for?

To be entered to win just leave a comment below. (US/Canada mailing addresses only.  Sorry.) The contest will run through  midnight MST on January 4th, at which time a winner will be selected via Random.org from all comments left.

A Walk In Cabo San Lucas- Guest Post by Paige Shelton

My husband, Charlie, and I recently did some traveling. We flew into San Diego and then took a cruise from there to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. We had a great time.

On the way home, Charlie pointed out an article in one of the airplane magazines. It mentioned that the largest farmers' market in the country is located in Dallas, Texas. I had an interesting reaction to this fact. First, I thought: wow, I'd love to visit the largest market in the country. Second, I thought: well, it might be the biggest, but there are so many wonderful things about every market I've visited. And finally, I thought: ooh, Bailey's Farmers' Market needs to have a write-up in an airplane magazine. I was sort of jealous of the Dallas market. To be clear, Bailey's is the purely fictional market in my farmers' market mystery series. I laughed at my jealousy for my made-up world.

But the article also did something else; it got me thinking about the universal greatness of all farmers' markets. In fact, the time in Cabo among the street vendors showed me that there's something great about all sorts of markets set up with stalls that are run by a single person or a couple of people or a family. Farmers, artists and other vendors all work hard to create and/or display their products so people will want to buy them. And the vendors are the best part; they come in many different personalities; some are pushy, some are shy, some are friendly, some are cantankerous. I'm drawn to them all. I love visiting markets and talking to vendors and hearing their personal stories. One of my favorite things about writing the farmers' market series is creating the vendors' backgrounds and personalities. Sometimes, they take over and tell me more about themselves than I could ever make up; they have a tendency to take on a life of their own. Maybe that's why I was jealous for them.

So, on behalf of everyone at Bailey's, may your upcoming market season be full of amazing products and interesting vendors. If you get a chance, stop by and see us. We're always here.

Thank you!

BOOK CONTEST:

To help celebrate the release of Fruit of All Evil, Paige has given me a signed copy to give away to one lucky winner.  Just leave a comment on the blog and I'll randomly draw a name on Monday, March 7th! 

Ghost Country by Patrick Lee

I just finished Patrick Lee’s second book, Ghost Country. It’s a sequel to his first novel featuring both Travis Chase and Paige Campbell. As those of you who read my review of Lee’s previous novel, The Breach, I really enjoyed how Lee ended the story and so I had high hopes for Ghost Country. As I read Ghost Country I was pleasantly surprised to note that, although it is a sequel to The Breach, it is not just a re-warmed version of the same story. Lee worked hard to ensure that the new book is fresh, and it is. In Ghost Country, Paige is captured by some nameless bad guys in Washington D.C., but before they can cuff her and carry her away she sends out one last desperate phone call to her assistant, who recruits Travis Chase (who is retired from awesomeness) to rescue her. From there the plot of Ghost Country expands from saving Paige to saving the whole world.

The story gets started because another Breach technology is discovered that allows people to open a window into the future. Paige looked and saw a world where everyone is dead and gone. She goes to ask the president if he knows what is going to happen, he plays dumb, but it turns out he really knows…and the goons (remember, the ones who kidnapped her at the beginning of the book) are his!!! The plot only gets crazier from there and involves crazy megalomaniacs, radio waves that drive people crazy, and crazy plans to wipe out the world as we know it.

The thing I most enjoyed about Ghost Country is its original plot and story line. The Breach and all the little trinkets it throws out add more variety to Lee’s books that one generally sees in the thriller genre. Additionally, Lee’s novels (so far) aren’t about terrorists who want to blow up New York (yawn, yawn), they’re about the destruction of the entire world!!! That’s got to make things a little more interesting. And not only is the whole world at stake, but Lee has an uncanny ability to make it all plausible. There was never really a point in Ghost Country where I was totally incredulous.

Unlike The Breach when the climactic ending caught me breathless and left me wanting more, Ghost Country started the wind-up about halfway through the book, which means that by the time I was finished reading the book I had already moved on mentally. I’m the kind of guy who likes to be kept guessing all the way to the end of the book and Ghost Country didn’t do that for me. Although Lee has definitely honed his writing style in lots of good ways, the decision to spell out the ending way before it happened was a bit disappointing. All in all a good way to spend an afternoon. Again, probably not a great choice if you get queasy around Star Trekkie gadgetry, but otherwise a refreshing break from the average thriller.

To learn more about Patrick Lee and the Travis Chase series check out his website here... http://www.patrickleefiction.com/.   We're giving away a copy of The Breach and Ghost Country to one lucky commenter.  Just leave a comment using the word incredulous and you'll be entered into the drawing.  Winner will be announced Monday.

This review was written by The Senator.