Author Guest Post
Life imitating art and vice versa. The notion that someone in the Federal Drug Administration would be able to and be open to kickbacks for delaying the entry of a generic drug to the market seemed a little far-fetched to me, but it was one of those artistic licence things that I was willing to go along with as my muse (the thing in my head that dictates the stories that I, the typist, transcribe) demanded. It wasn't till well into the book that I decided to check out the structure of the FDA and discovered that two people highly placed in the agency had, in fact, been prosecuted for just such a crime. It's not the first time that's happened. My first book was based on nefarious gold-mining activities in which the purpose was to inflate the stock by offering falsified reports of a great vein of the precious metal. Weeks later, the famous Bre-X gold scam was disclosed. There's no magic in this. I think it suggests that an author has an awareness of what is happening, what will happen and what can happen, such that he or she seems to be prescient, while, in fact, he or she is simply presenting something that is bound to happen sooner or later and because of the writer's inherent awareness of the ticking of the world, more likely sooner.
About The Author
John Worsley Simpson is a crime-fiction writer. John was born in Bradford, Yorkshire, England, emigrated to Canada at the age of four and grew up in Toronto, He has been a reporter and editor in major newspapers and news services in North America, England and Ireland. He is married and lives in Newmarket, Ontario.
Virtual Book Tour Contest Giveaway
Win An eBook Copy of Missing Rebecca
Contest Dates: October 3 - 7
Author John Worsley Simpson is giving away (1) eBook copy of Missing Rebecca during his virtual book tour!
To enter the contest giveaway, post a comment below and don't forget to include your name, email address and which digital format (.mobi, Nook, PDF, etc) of the book you would like to receive. One (1) winner will be chosen at random using Random.org number generator on Monday, October 8th. The winner will be notified by a Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours representative.
Book Review
Missing Rebecca by John Worsley Simpson
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing
Publication Date: March 31, 2012
Format: Paperback - 220 pages / Kindle - 356 KB
ISBN: 147526660X
ASIN: B007QLK8DU
Genre: Crime Fiction / Mystery / Suspense / Thriller
BUY THE BOOK: Missing Rebecca
Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the author in exchange for my honest review and participation in a virtual book tour event hosted by Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours.
Book Description:
Book Excerpt:
“Okay.” The detective moved the computer mouse on the table and the screen lit up. He clicked on a folder and a video player opened; another click and the video began to play. The first scene was inside one of the mall’s entrances. In a moment, Liam and Rebecca entered the frame from the bottom of the screen, their backs to the camera.
“Is that you and your wife?” Welburn asked.
“It is, yes. It was a cold day, like today, so Rebecca wore her red, quilted ski jacket. I wore my pea coat and watch cap—hello, sailor,” Peters said, grinning vacuously, and immediately felt stupid.
“Sure. And right away you split up.”
“Rebecca likes to shop alone, which is great. As men, you must appreciate that.”
The detectives exchanged a glance and then nodded politely.
They ran the video for about an hour, various cameras picking up Rebecca in her bright red coat and ink-black hair. One scene showed Rebecca heading past the camera toward the mall exit, carrying a Lord & Taylor bag. The next scene showed Peters carrying a huge Hugo Boss bag, passing Rebecca as she re-entered the mall empty handed. He waved to her as he passed, and she turned down a side corridor that led to the restrooms.
“I took the jacket and pants I’d bought out to the car,” Peters explained. “Rebecca had a couple of outfits in her bag. She left them in the car, too. I found them later.”
Almost instantly, because of the truncating of the video by the technician, a man wearing a long, black overcoat, its collar turned up, and a sloping-brim, Irish-style, tweed hat appeared from the bottom of the screen, his back to the camera, as if he had just entered the mall. He was carrying a duffel bag. His shoulders were hunched and he walked with long, quick strides, so that he was around the corner and in the restroom corridor in a few seconds.
Welburn paused the video.
“Let me explain. I’ve watched the video before, a few times. The original showed this corner of the hall for some time. There is an emergency exit at the end of the corridor to the restrooms, and there are a couple of utility rooms. If the exit door had been opened, an alarm would have sounded, and a signal flashed in the security room. It wasn’t opened. There’s no camera in the restroom hallway, by the way. It’s only a short hall, fully visible from the main hall. Anyway, you’ll see when I start the video again that two people—the guy in the long coat—and a woman in a long coat and a wide scarf covering her hair and most of her face come out of the restroom hallway. The guy is holding the woman’s elbow. Okay, watch.”
As soon as the detective restarted the video, the couple he had described came hurrying around the corner in the direction of the camera. The hat and collar of the man concealed his face, as did the woman’s scarf cover hers. He seemed almost to be pushing her. He wasn’t carrying the duffel bag.
“Now, the entire rest of the video shows no one in a red ski jacket, or even anyone roughly resembling your wife come out of that corridor, or from straight down the hall.”
“That must have been her.”
“With the long-overcoat guy? Yeah we think so. The height looks about right, for instance. And—I’m sorry about this, but we checked with the lost-and-found at the mall, and they had a red ski jacket that looks exactly like the one your wife was wearing. It was found in the ladies washroom in the hallway we’re looking at. And the duffel bag the guy was carrying was in the hallway.”
“Is that you and your wife?” Welburn asked.
“It is, yes. It was a cold day, like today, so Rebecca wore her red, quilted ski jacket. I wore my pea coat and watch cap—hello, sailor,” Peters said, grinning vacuously, and immediately felt stupid.
“Sure. And right away you split up.”
“Rebecca likes to shop alone, which is great. As men, you must appreciate that.”
The detectives exchanged a glance and then nodded politely.
They ran the video for about an hour, various cameras picking up Rebecca in her bright red coat and ink-black hair. One scene showed Rebecca heading past the camera toward the mall exit, carrying a Lord & Taylor bag. The next scene showed Peters carrying a huge Hugo Boss bag, passing Rebecca as she re-entered the mall empty handed. He waved to her as he passed, and she turned down a side corridor that led to the restrooms.
“I took the jacket and pants I’d bought out to the car,” Peters explained. “Rebecca had a couple of outfits in her bag. She left them in the car, too. I found them later.”
Almost instantly, because of the truncating of the video by the technician, a man wearing a long, black overcoat, its collar turned up, and a sloping-brim, Irish-style, tweed hat appeared from the bottom of the screen, his back to the camera, as if he had just entered the mall. He was carrying a duffel bag. His shoulders were hunched and he walked with long, quick strides, so that he was around the corner and in the restroom corridor in a few seconds.
Welburn paused the video.
“Let me explain. I’ve watched the video before, a few times. The original showed this corner of the hall for some time. There is an emergency exit at the end of the corridor to the restrooms, and there are a couple of utility rooms. If the exit door had been opened, an alarm would have sounded, and a signal flashed in the security room. It wasn’t opened. There’s no camera in the restroom hallway, by the way. It’s only a short hall, fully visible from the main hall. Anyway, you’ll see when I start the video again that two people—the guy in the long coat—and a woman in a long coat and a wide scarf covering her hair and most of her face come out of the restroom hallway. The guy is holding the woman’s elbow. Okay, watch.”
As soon as the detective restarted the video, the couple he had described came hurrying around the corner in the direction of the camera. The hat and collar of the man concealed his face, as did the woman’s scarf cover hers. He seemed almost to be pushing her. He wasn’t carrying the duffel bag.
“Now, the entire rest of the video shows no one in a red ski jacket, or even anyone roughly resembling your wife come out of that corridor, or from straight down the hall.”
“That must have been her.”
“With the long-overcoat guy? Yeah we think so. The height looks about right, for instance. And—I’m sorry about this, but we checked with the lost-and-found at the mall, and they had a red ski jacket that looks exactly like the one your wife was wearing. It was found in the ladies washroom in the hallway we’re looking at. And the duffel bag the guy was carrying was in the hallway.”
My Book Review:
Do you ever really "know" a person?
After meeting at a medical conference and embarking on a week long whirlwind romance in Cocoa Beach, Florida, Liam Peters and Rebecca Hancock get married, even though they barely know each other.
Liam is a forty-three year old former Navy Seal and owner of Medic-Right, a medical equipment supply company in the Buffalo suburb of Williamsville, NY.
Rebecca Hancock is a forty year old pharmaceutical sales person from Cleveland, Ohio. But there is more to who she really is ...
Barely two months into their marriage, Liam and Rebecca still don't know each other's life story or past history. While shopping at Bennett Mall in the nearby suburb of Cheektowaga, Rebecca goes missing sending Liam into a panic. Was Rebecca abducted or did she dupe Liam and leave him? What is behind her sudden disappearance? Liam wants to believe that they really love each other, that there is no way Rebecca would have left him, something had to have happened to her ... which leads him on a complicated and dangerous journey to finding his Missing Rebecca.
Missing Rebecca is a fast paced intriguing crime mystery thriller that will keep you sitting on the edge of your seat! Written in the third person narrative, this gripping story unfolds the mystery behind Rebecca's disappearance and Liam's journey to find her, it has enough twists and turns that keeps the reader engaged and guessing what will happen next. The author does a great job of drawing the reader into the story, he unfolds the mystery by gradually feeding them pieces to the puzzle until the climatic surprise ending.
The story is rich in detail and descriptions, it has a variety of settings: Cocoa Beach, Florida; Buffalo, NY; Cleveland, Ohio; Canada; and Zurich, Switzerland, that has the characters globe trotting around the world in a dangerous game of protecting their individual interests. With a corrupt drug company, FDA, FBI, US Marshals Service, local NY police departments, Russian mobsters, blackmailing individuals and a wayward witness in the WITSEC program (Federal Witness Security Program) all in the mix ... kidnapping, torture and murder are just a part of the drama, suspense and mayhem that awaits the reader in the pages of this riveting story.
The author has created a large cast of intriguing and complex characters who are intricately interwoven into the story. Just when the reader starts to get a handle on a set of characters, the author throws a monkey wrench into the mix by adding another group of characters. The complexity of each group of characters' involvement in the mystery is masterfully revealed, and the rapid-fire dialogue and fast paced action makes this one heck of a compelling read! The reader is swept up in the whirlwind of the mystery with fascinating characters that culminates in an astonishing and eye-opening conclusion!
Missing Rebecca is a riveting suspense thriller full of adventure, drama and intrigue that is a must read for mystery fans!
RATING: 4 STARS ****
Fantastic review and post!! Great job! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThank you Cheryl! Thank you for the opportunity to read, review and host the virtual book tour event. :)
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