Please welcome today fellow author who is published by Crooked Cat Books - Val Penny.
She is an up-and-coming crime author (it's been said that her first book in The Edinburgh Crime Mysteries is "Up There with Ian Rankin").
Her first book, Hunter's Chase, was published this year and is receiving rave reviews.
Now she has the second one in The Edinburgh Crime Mysteries about to be published: Hunter's Revenge. Let's have a look at it:
Hunter's Revenge Blurb
Hunter
by name – Hunter by nature: DI Hunter Wilson will not rest until his friend's
death is revenged.
DI Hunter Wilson
is called to the scene of a murder. He is shocked to find the victim is his
friend and colleague, George Reinbold. Who would want to harm the quiet, old
man? Why was a book worth £23,000 delivered to him that morning? Why is the
security in George's home so intense? Hunter must investigate his friend's past
as well as the present to identify the killer and identify George's killer.
Hunter also finds a new supply of cocaine from Peru flooding HMP Edinburgh and
the city. The courier leads Hunter to the criminal gang but Hunter requires the
help of his nemesis, the former Chief Constable, Sir Peter Myerscough and local
gangster Ian Thomson to make his case. Hunter's perseverance and patience are
put to the test time after time in this taught crime thriller.
Prologue
East Germany, January 1968
The last thing Georg did on his
eighteenth birthday was kill a man.
He really hadn’t meant to kill the
Stasi officer in front of him, but it was him or Georg – and Georg did not want
to die. It was the first time he’d seen a corpse. The streets were slick with
ice. The man lost his balance and cracked his head on the pavement. Georg
stared down at the body: there was blood and brains all over the pavement. He
looked into the officer’s eyes. They stared blindly to heaven, but Georg knew
there wasn’t a Stasi officer on earth who was going there. He looked away from
death and towards his friends in horror, but when they saw what had happened,
they scattered. Georg picked up the officer’s gun and began to run. More Stasi officers appeared as the
boys fled.
Georg was out of breath when he got
home.
“What’s the rush, son?” his father
asked.
“Shit, Dad! It’s bad.”
“You’re drunk! No language in this
house, boy,” said his grandmother.
“Dad, the boys and me were leaving
the bar to come home and we saw a Stasi officer”
“So?”
“We were laughing and having fun.”
“And?”
“For a laugh I knocked his hat off.”
“Idiot! You know Stasi have no sense
of humour. Ever. So what next?”
“He pulled his gun and told us to
stand silently against the wall.”
“And you apologised and complied, I
hope.”
“I panicked and punched him. He
slipped on the ice and fell over. He hit his head on the ground, and when I
checked him, he wasn’t breathing. He was dead. I just took his gun and ran.”
The silence in the room was
deafening.
“You did what? You fucking idiot!
Did you really punch a Stasi officer? Are you mad? You
know we don’t even have to openly engage in resistance to draw the attention of
the Stasi and incur its retribution. Just failing to conform with mainstream
society can be enough. Shit! I sired a fool.” Georg’s father’s red face
reflected his rage.
“And now you are here,” his
grandmother added. “You ran home, leading them straight to us. We will all die
now. Thank you.”
“What is all the noise?” Georg’s
mother came through from the kitchen, drying her hands on her apron. His twin
sister Ingrid and younger brother Wilhelm followed her. They looked bewildered.
Their father rarely raised his voice, especially not to Georg.
As his father explained the issues,
Georg’s mother burst into tears.
“They will kill him,” she whispered.
“They’ll kill him?” his father
shrieked “Fuck, the rest of us will be lucky if all they do is kill us too!
Have you any idea the danger you have put this whole family in, you young
imbecile?”
“God, that’s true!” his mother
sobbed. “Georg has to leave. He must escape right away. Maybe, when they come
and find him gone, they will believe we had no part of it.”
“You and I both know that is not
going to happen,” his father said. “They know everybody in the town, and even
if they don’t already know it was Georg, one of their informers will turn him
in for reward or to save their own skin. They will soon find out where he
lives.”
His wife nodded.
“Mum, where do I go?” Georg pleaded.
“Dad, what will you do? I didn’t mean anything by it. I was just fooling
around.”
“Then you are more of a fool than I
ever thought,” his father said. “It’s a bit fucking late to worry about us. We
will cope, but we must deny you and any knowledge of this atrocity. I love you
always, but you must leave, son. Now. There is no choice, and you must be quick
because they will be here all too soon. Make a start on your escape tonight.
It’s your only hope, and ours.”
“Quick, Wilhelm, fetch him my
savings and your grandfather Georg’s book,” said his grandmother. “Georg will
need the money, and he can always sell the book.”
“I’ll pack a meal,” his mother said.
She gathered up the family Bible, along with some bread, ham, cheese and
apples.
“Don’t give him too much, it will
slow him down,” said Ingrid.
“Pack everything in a rucksack. You
can put it on your back, Georg, and still run,” said Wilhelm as he handed their
grandmother’s meagre treasures to George.
“I am so sorry, Father. Where do I
go? Where am I running to? What will happen to you?” Georg’s voice raised to a
scream.
His mother held him and kissed his
head, but his father grabbed his arm, pulled him from her and shook him.
“You got yourself into this; we will
get you out of it. No point in worrying about us. Get out of this country.
Don’t look back. Just run. Go west, go to Britain. Stay alive. Get out of this
house, get out of my sight and never come back. Do you hear me, Georg?”
Thank you Val. As you've already gathered, her books are set in Edinburgh.
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The
Author Bio for Hunter's Revenge
Val Penny is an
American author living in SW Scotland. She has two adult daughters of whom she
is justly proud and lives with her husband and two cats. She has a Law degree
from Edinburgh University and her MSc from Napier University. She has had many
jobs including hairdresser, waitress, lawyer, banker, azalea farmer and
lecturer. However she has not yet achieved either of her childhood dreams of
being a ballerina or owning a candy store. Until those dreams come true, she
has turned her hand to writing poetry, short stories and novels. Her crime
novels, 'Hunter's Chase' and Hunter's Revenge are set in Edinburgh, Scotland,
published by Crooked Cat Books. The third book in the series, Hunter's Force,
follows shortly.
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