Off the Books: A Nick Forte Detective Thriller (Nick Forte Detective Novels Book 6) by Dana King Book Blitz with Guest Post & Giveaway

  

OFF THE BOOKS

Dana King

 

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GENRE:  Hard-boiled Private Investigator

 

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BLURB:

 

Nick Forte has lost his detective agency and makes ends meet doing background checks and other paperwork. He pays for everything else through jobs he takes for cash and without any written contract. What starts out as a simple investigation into a traffic accident exposes Forte to people who have truly lost everything and have no viable hope of reclaiming their lives. That doesn’t sit well with Forte, leading him and his friend Goose Satterwhite to take action that ends more violently than anyone expected.

 

“The return of Chicago private detective Nick Forte, the tough protagonist of two Shamus Award nominated novels, is well worth the wait. Nick’s latest escapade Off The Books—the first in nearly six years—will surely earn additional praise for the acclaimed series.”

-J.L .Abramo, Shamus Award-winning author of Chasing Charlie Chan.

 

"Nick Forte reminds me of Robert B. Parker's Spenser: a PI with a finely tuned sense of justice who doesn't take anyone's s***. Any fan of hardboiled detective fiction is in for a helluva ride."

--Chris Rhatigan, former publisher of All Due Respect Books

 

 

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EXCERPT

 

I first saw him standing under the “employees only” sign near the exit to the truck service bays. Early twenties, a little under average height, short blond hair. Caroline was unaware of him, focused as she was on a three-way text conversation with her friends Maria and Arielle.

 

The next time the kid caught my attention he was half as far away, standing where the food court opened into the convenience store. I only noticed him this time because I recognized him, and he was the only Love’s employee on the floor. His name was Jimmy, and he was definitely looking our direction.

 

I’m an old-school father with an only child. A daughter, no less. My primary purpose in life was to make sure no one messed with her. Everything else—work, food, clothing, mortgage payments, staying out of prison—comes after. Jimmy hadn’t done anything wrong, but the Dadar had activated.

 

All fathers think their daughters are beautiful; I had empirical evidence. If the steady stream of boys circling the periphery of her life looking for an in wasn’t enough, I once overheard another kid in the band describe her to a friend as the “archetype of virginal beauty.” (What can I say? Magnet school.)

 

The next time I caught sight of Jimmy he stood three feet behind Caroline, checking her out with rapt attention. I sidled over, using my best stealth technique. He never saw me coming until I leaned in close and spoke in my most quietly menacing voice. “She’s thirteen years old.”

 

Jimmy evaporated faster than a snowflake in a  microwave..

 

I still got it.

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Guest Post

Hi. I’m Nick Forte, Chicago private investigator and protagonist of Dana King’s new novel, Off the Books. Dana had a urologist appointment and the day got away from him, so I volunteered to step in. Between you and me, I’m more entertaining than he is, anyway.

 

So here are the

TOP TEN THINGS THAT MAKE NICK FORTE HAPPY

10. The smell of impending rain. Usually in the spring, the kind of rain that makes everything seem well-scrubbed and allows you the illusion all is right with the world. It won’t last, but it’s great while it does.

9. Hot days with low humidity. I’m not talking triple digits, but 95 degrees with 20 percent humidity puts me in mind of heaven.

8. A summer afternoon watching the at Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field. They’ll probably lose, but it’ll be a warm day with baseball. Not a lot is better than that.

7. A Cubs loss.

6. Bullying a bully. Maybe “bullying” isn’t the right word. Bullies back down when the person they’re picking on pushes back. I catch someone being a bully and he pushes back on me, I’ll kick his ass.

5. A book or movie that, when it’s finished, I have to sit quietly for a minute or two and bask in its power. The most recent book where that happened: Dennis Lehane’s Small Mercies. Most recent movie: Chinatown, which says a lot. I’ve seen Chinatown at least ten times by now.

4. Accomplishing something I’ve put off for too long. Could be cleaning the garage or closing a case that has vexed me.

3. Clients who are straight with me. This happens less often than you might think. Experience has taught me to assume everyone lies, especially the people who are paying me to help them.

2. Visiting my family in Penns River, PA, though trouble always seems to find me there. Not that it has to go looking all that hard.

1. Any time spent with my daughter. Doesn’t matter what we do, where we do it, or when we do it. A phone call qualifies for Number 1 on this list.

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

Off the Books is Dana King’s sixth Nick Forte private investigator novel. Two of the earlier books (A Small Sacrifice and The Man in the Window) received Shamus Award nominations from the Private Eye Writers of America. Dana also writes the Penns River series of police procedurals set in a small Western Pennsylvania town, as well as one standalone novel, Wild Bill, which is not a Western. His short fiction appears in numerous anthologies and web sites. He is a frequent panelist at conferences and reads at Noirs at Bars from New York to North Carolina.

 

WEBSITE

https://danakingauthor.com

 

BLOG

One Bite at a Time https://danaking.blogspot.com

 

TWITTER

@DanaKingAuthor

 

FACEBOOK

https://www.facebook.com/dana.king.735/

 

BUY LINKS

http://tinyurl.com/4w2avye3

 

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE

 

Dana King will award a $20 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner.

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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