#ShadowsintheMindsEye #JanyreTromp #HFVBT

Shadows in the Mind’s Eye by Janyre Tromp

Publication Date: April 19, 2022
Kregel Publications

Genre: Historical Fiction/Christian

Charlotte Anne Mattas longs to turn back the clock. Before her husband, Sam, went to serve his country in the war, he was the man everyone could rely on–responsible, intelligent, and loving. But the person who’s come back to their family farm is very different from the protector Annie remembers. Sam’s experience in the Pacific theater has left him broken in ways no one can understand–but that everyone is learning to fear.

Tongues start wagging after Sam nearly kills his own brother. Now when he claims to have seen men on the mountain when no one else has seen them, Annie isn’t the only one questioning his sanity and her safety. If there were criminals haunting the hills, there should be evidence beyond his claims. Is he really seeing what he says, or is his war-tortured mind conjuring ghosts?

Annie desperately wants to believe her husband. But between his irrational choices and his nightmares leaking into the daytime, she’s terrified he’s going mad. Can she trust God to heal Sam’s mental wounds–or will sticking by him mean keeping her marriage at the cost of her own life?

Debut novelist Janyre Tromp delivers a deliciously eerie, Hitchcockian story filled with love and suspense. Readers of psychological thrillers and historical fiction by Jaime Jo Wright and Sarah Sundin will add Tromp to their favorite authors list.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound

Review from Coffee & Ink

A sailor named Sam comes home after World War II has ended on a Greyhound bus. He brings with him harsh memories, memories so bad he can barely see the man he was before he left home. One thing remains—he loves his wife and daughter, even if they hardly recognize him, either.

The family works hard to come together again, but so much has happened, it seems like the war isn’t over yet in Sam’s mind, and he sometimes can’t tell friend from foe.

When the enemy comes for him in the guise of a friend, and an old enemy tries to save him, Sam has to choose between what he knows is true and what he fears.

This is a well-written historical fiction with authentic voices. I highly recommend this novel to readers who love stories written from family histories, as this one is. I do love a good Afterword, too.

Praise

“Readers will enjoy this emotional exploration of a soldier’s journey as he returns home to his family’s farm after fighting a war in the Pacific. This story examines not only the traumatic impact on his own psyche but on the lives of all who love him most. With alternating points of view, Tromp weaves a complex historical tale incorporating love, suspense, hurt, and healing―all the elements that keep the pages turning.” — Julie Cantrell, New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of Perennials

“Oh my! What a story! Shadows in the Mind’s Eye is a stunner of a debut novel. Sam and Annie’s love is beautifully rendered, Sam’s combat fatigue (what we now call PTSD) is compassionately portrayed, and Janyre Tromp’s writing effortlessly captures the Southern voice. And the last half of the book is one dangerous, breathtaking twist after another, as Sam’s worst nightmares come to pass. A compelling look at a town struggling to find its soul and a wounded couple struggling to reclaim their love. Not to be missed.” — Sarah Sundin, ECPA best-selling and award-winning author of Until Leaves Fall in Paris

“An achingly poignant tale of rediscovering love and trust between wounded hearts. Love, forgiveness, and danger weave together in Tromp’s emotional tale where the greatest of battles are fought in the mind. Beautiful in description with complex characters, readers will not forget this emotional journey.” — J’nell Ciesielski, best-selling author of The Socialite

“Stunning and compelling, Janyre Tromp’s Shadows in the Mind’s Eye kept me turning pages. With a cast of true-to-life characters, pitch-perfect narrative, and a plot that will keep the reader wondering what is true (and what is imagined), this novel is not to be missed. Intense and full of heart, Tromp delivers a fresh voice in the world of fiction.” — Susie Finkbeiner, author of The Nature of Small Birds and the Pearl Spence Series

“With twists and turns as unexpected as an Arkansas thunderstorm, Tromp brilliantly explores the things war can change and the important things it can’t.” — Lynne Gentry, USA Today best-selling author of Lethal Outbreak

“A hair-raising, mind-bending psychological thriller, Shadows in the Mind’s Eye by Janyre Tromp deftly explores a marriage torn asunder by war. Is a marriage worth fighting for when you cannot see the people your husband is fighting, or when you even become the one he is fighting? Tromp’s nuanced empathy elevates this story to another level and blurs the line between villain and hero, causing readers to ponder the lengths they would go to protect themselves, even against the ones they love.” — Jolina Petersheim, bestselling author of How the Light Gets In

“Shadows in the Mind’s Eye is an intense, beautifully written novel about secrets and sacrifice. A story about poignant trauma and truth potent enough to heal a broken family. A fabulous debut!” — Melanie Dobson, award-winning author of The Winter Rose and Catching the Wind

“With pitch-perfect dialect, lyrical prose, and homespun wisdom, Tromp delivers a slow boiling mystery that dares to ask the deepest questions about faith, love, suffering, evil, and hope.” — Elizabeth Musser, award-winning author of The Promised Land

“Tromp’s debut novel is the perfect blend of historical fiction and psychological thriller. Shadows in the Mind’s Eye hooked me early on and kept me enthralled until the very end. A story of war, of heartache, of love and healing, this novel will appeal to a broad swath of readers. Tromp is a new author to watch!” — Kelli Stuart, award-winning author of The Fabulous Freaks of Monsieur Beaumont

Author Janyre Tromp

In case we get to meet in person some day, you pronounce that first name Jan-air. Kind of like the stove. I’m a developmental book editor by day and a writer at night.

And that all happens from my kitchen table when I’m not hanging out with my husband, two kids, and slightly eccentric Shetland Sheepdog. Unfortunately, I spilled coffee on my super cape and then the dryer ate it. So you’ll just have to imagine I can do it all!

I have four traditionally published books—a WWII era novel, Shadows in the Mind’s Eye; a juvenile fiction, That Sinking Feeling; and two board books in the All About God’s Animals series—and 2 indie books—Wide Open, a historical novella and It’s a Wonderful Christmas, a Christmas novella collection (coming October 2021).

But my passion is writing about the beauty of the world—past and present—even when it isn’t pretty.

After all, isn’t it the beauty in the world that gets us through the day?

Hopefully after you hang out with me for a bit, we’ll be able to see things a little more clearly, find a little bit of meaning, and make a bigger impact.

With me what you see is what you get…all the Beautiful, all the Ugly, all the Me.

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Giveaway

Enter to win a copy of Shadows in the Mind’s Eye by Janyre Tromp!

The giveaway is open to the US only and ends on May 20th. You must be 18 or older to enter.

Shadow’s in the Mind’s Eye

#Book Review A Disturbing Nature by Brian Lebeau

Suspenseful new novel draws inspiration from history’s infamous crimes

The new psychological thriller, “A Disturbing Nature,” explores ethics, psychology and social justice while investigating a series of murders in New England 

RAMONA, California – This spring, author Brian Lebeau will release his debut novel, “A Disturbing Nature” (May 10, 2022, Books Fluent), a psychological and insightful thriller about a prolific killer and investigator in post-Vietnam War-era New England.

When FBI Chief Investigator Francis Palmer and Maurice Lumen’s paths collide, a dozen young women are already dead—bodies strewn in the woods across southern New England. Crippled by the loss of their families and haunted by mistakes, they wrestle with skeletons and ghosts neither understands. Who is destined to pay for the sins of their fathers, and who will pay for their own? 

Under a celebrity veneer, the Beast in Palmer simmers. Called back from an investigation that’s gone dry in Seattle to his field office in Boston, he’s assigned to a case closer to home. Without closure and carrying the scars of every predator he’s hunted down, Palmer’s thrust into a new killer’s destructive path and forced to confront his own demons. 

On the surface, Mo Lumen seems an unlikely suspect. Abandoned by the Great Society and sheltered from the countercultural revolution, he’s forced to leave Virginia under the shadow of secrets and accusations. Emerging in Rhode Island, burdened with childlike innocence, reminders of the past threaten to resurrect old carcasses.  

A psychological thriller set in the summer of 1975, “A Disturbing Nature” explores the concept of two deaths, blurring the line between man and monster.

“A Disturbing Nature”

Brian Lebeau | May 10, 2022 | Books Fluent | Historical Fiction / Mystery / Suspense

Paperback  | 978-1-953865-49-6 | $19.99

Ebook  | 978-1-953865-50-2 | $9.99

Review by Coffee&Ink

A good, complicated fictional crime story with a narrative that has the feel of true crime. The main characters are a detective who hunts serial killers, at great cost to his soul, across the country, and a damaged young man searching for a good job, friends, family, and connections in a cold world that has treated him badly.  A well-written, edge-of-your-seat story, led by characters who are driven to discover who is killing young women in a small college town. Vibrant writing and realistic settings—recommended.

About Brian Lebeau

One month after The Beatles arrived, with much fanfare, in America, Brian Lebeau was born, unceremoniously, in Fall River, Massachusetts, home of the infamous Lizzie Borden. After being awarded an “A” in high school English once and denied a career in music for “lack of talent” repeatedly, he taught economics at several colleges and universities in Massachusetts and Rhode Island before moving to Fauquier County, Virginia, to work as a defense contractor for two decades. In the psychological thriller “A Disturbing Nature,” Mr. Lebeau merges three key interests: a keen fascination with everything World War II, a morbid curiosity surrounding the motivations and mayhem of notorious serial killers, and a lifelong obsession with the Red Sox. “A Disturbing Nature” is Mr. Lebeau’s first book.

Q&A with Brian Lebeau

Why did you become a writer? Were you always interested in writing?

I write because I’m an explorer at heart. From the age of eleven, I’ve always wanted to explore and share my adventures. And while I’ve traveled much, the most extraordinary places I’ve visited lie within. So, I write, and I share, just as I’d hoped, only the perspective is different. The stories that have been with me for years—the ones I couldn’t share over lunch or at a house party—I knew would require my full attention when the time came to put ink to paper. And even though it took almost a quarter of a century in the business world to get there, I finally found myself alone at the keyboard in late 2017. Physically, I’ve aged, but inside, I’m still that eleven-year-old explorer hoping to one day write a literary masterpiece. 

What draws you to the page and motivates you to write?

I’m motivated to write by an unquenchable thirst for knowledge—to understand what motivates myself and others and what conditions those motives. I enjoy introspective studies wrapped in psychological thrillers and dark romances—the ones that bare the writer’s soul. So what draws me to the page is a constant need to place myself under the microscope and evaluate what I’m thinking, why I’m thinking it, and how thinking about it influences my mood and behavior. If I write my thoughts down on paper, I’m exorcising the unnecessary or misguided ones and focusing on the ones that matter. I write because it’s therapeutic. I read because it’s comforting. 

Who are you now that you’re a writer? What new persona have you taken on?

After decades spent chasing security, I decided to shed my skin and slink into the world of storytelling, using whatever platform I’m granted to raise questions of individual and social conscience in a non-threatening way. Weaving one’s thoughts into a story permits the writer to question the status quo and tilt the conventional, so I’m hoping whatever audience comes along on my adventures will also seek to understand the questions they raise. 

Having done a lot of soul-searching as part of the writing process, my view on leadership has changed significantly. I no longer believe leadership comes from financial, political, or social influence, corporate structures, political systems, or social status, all enslaved by market forces, public rhetoric, and conventional wisdom. Instead, true leadership comes from the independent voice that recognizes all members of society on the same plane, in the same service class, and with the same baggage. I’d like to unpack some of that baggage and maybe help others do the same. I’m ready to be a guide through our collective journey; travels between dark and light, humor and profound. 

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#theSignoftheWeepingVirgin #AlanaWhite #HFVBT #historicalfiction #coverreveal

The Sign of the Weeping Virgin by Alana White

Paperback Publication Date: May 2, 2022

Series: The Guid’Antonio Vespucci Mysteries, Book 1
Genre: Historical Mystery/Fiction

Florence, 1480: Guid’Antonio Vespucci is back in town. One man. One clue. One last chance to save the Republic.

Florentine investigator Guid’Antonio Vespucci returns to Italy from a government mission to find his dreams of peace shattered. Marauding Turks have abducted a young girl and sold her into slavery. Equally disturbing, a revered painting of the Virgin Mary is weeping in Guid’Antonio’s family church. Are the tears manmade or a sign of God’s displeasure with Guid’Antonio himself?

In a finely wrought story for lovers of medieval and renaissance mysteries everywhere‚ Guid’Antonio follows a spellbinding trail of clues to uncover the thought-provoking truth about the missing girl and the weeping painting’s mystifying tears‚ all pursued as he comes face to face with his own personal demons.

“Color, intrigue, and elegant prose bring the 15th-century City of Flowers to life.” —Brenda Rickman Vantrease, Bestselling Author of The Illuminator and A Far Horizon.” -Historical Novels Review Editor’s Choice

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound

About the Author

Alana White is the author of the Guid’Antonio mystery series set in Renaissance Florence, Italy. The next title in the series, The Hearts of All on Fire, is coming soon. Like Guid’Antonio, Alana loves dogs. While he dwells in 15th-Century Florence with his brave cane corso Italiano, Alana currently lives in Nashville, TN with her husband, their cat, and two boisterous schnauzer boys.

For more information, please visit Alana White’s website. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Goodreads.

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Enter to win a paperback copy of The Sign of the Weeping Virgin by Alana White!

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Weeping Virgin Paperback Cover Reveal

#BookReview Pesticide by KimHays

“Pesticide”

Kim Hays | April 19, 2022 | Seventh Street Books | Crime fiction

Paperback | 9781645060468  | $17.95

      Ebook | $9.99

From BooksForward Press Release:

Medieval Swiss city sets the stage for murder.
How organic farming, local politics, and romantic entanglement crop up in compelling dual detective mystery.

Bern, Switzerland – Lose yourself in the haunting Swiss city of Bern in this engaging police procedural by debut author, Kim Hays. Pesticide (Apr 19, 2022, Seventh Street Books) follows detectives Guiliana Linder and Renzo Donatelli as they work together to solve two mysterious deaths in the first Linder and Donatelli book.

Bern is known for its narrow cobblestone streets, decorative fountains, and striking towers. Yet dark currents run through this charming medieval city and beyond, to the idyllic farmlands that surround it.

When a rave on a hot summer night erupts into violent riots, a young man is found the next morning bludgeoned to death with a policeman’s club. Seasoned detective Giuliana Linder is assigned to the case. That same day, an elderly organic farmer turns up dead and drenched with pesticide. Enter Giuliana’s younger colleague Renzo Donatelli to investigate the second murder. Guiliana’s disappointment that they’re on two different cases is tinged with relief—her home life is complicated enough without having to deal with the distractingly attractive Renzo.

But when an unexpected discovery ties the two victims into a single case, Giuliana and Renzo are thrown closer together than ever before. Dangerously close. Will Giuliana be able to handle the threats to her marriage and to her assumptions about the police? If she wants to prevent another murder, she’ll have to put her life on the line—and her principles.

Shortlisted for a 2020 Debut Dagger Award by the Crime Writers’ Association, “Kim Hays brings a sparkling new voice to police procedurals, giving us engaging and realistically drawn detectives who struggle to balance their personal lives with the demands of a gripping investigation.” – Deborah Crombie, New York Times-bestselling author of the award-winning Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James novels.

REVIEW FROM COFFEE&INK

I loved this police procedural murder mystery set in Bern, Switzerland. The story, narrated alternately by the detectives Guiliana Linder and Renzo Donatelli, takes place in the Swiss countryside and the city of Bern. The tone is dark and gritty, the prose sharp and even-handed, a pure pleasure to read. Not only that, I learned so much about organic farming versus the modern way—very interesting and made seamlessly a part of the story.
What could a murder, if it is a murder, in the city have to do with a completely different murder on an organic farm in the country? The slow burn between the investigating detectives, neither happy in their marriage, is interwoven throughout as they come to terms with reality and the dream.
Compelling and suspenseful, interesting in both the settings and the mechanics of farming, I highly recommend this contemporary, ok, I’ll say it, since everyone else is, Swiss noir. Though that sounds like dark chocolate. I’m looking forward to more, and I’m putting Kim Hays on my favorites go-to list.

BIOGRAPHY

More about Kim Hays: Kim Hays lives in Bern with her Swiss husband and is a dual citizen of Switzerland and the US. She grew up in San Juan, Vancouver, and Stockholm, and has lived all over the States. Since her teens, Hays has worked in a variety of jobs, from forewoman in a truck-engine factory to lecturer in sociology to cross-cultural coach for multinational firms. Writing remained in the background until her son left for college, when she decided to try to write a novel.  Pesticide, the first mystery in her Polizei Bern series, is the result. It was shortlisted for the 2020 Debut Dagger award by the Crime Writers’ Association. Hays has a BA from Harvard and a PhD from the University of California-Berkeley. Find out more about her at  www.kimhaysbern.com