Simon Wood

Posts Tagged: audiobook

The Aidy Westlake mystery series is very personal to me because it’s based on my experiences as a racecar driver. It’s a period of my life I am very proud of…and that’s includes the good, the bad and the ugly. Motor racing shaped me as a person and I’ve infused that into the character of Aidy. The storylines inspired by incidents I came across during that time.

With that said, I have a deal for you. For one week only, you can pick up all three books for $5/£5 on Amazon, although you don’t have to buy all three to get the price break.

From Amazon.com:
DID NOT FINISH
HALF-INCHED
HOT SEAT

From Amazon.co.uk:
DID NOT FINISH
HALF-INCHED
HOT SEAT

The books are available elsewhere in all e-formats, print and audio.  You can find all the links here.

I hope you’ll pick up the books because they are very special to me, but also because I am working on books #4, #5 & #6.   🙂

Categories: Uncategorized

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With the release of my latest SAVING GRACE, Amazon is doing a number of promotions to support the book.  You can pick up a bunch of my titles on the cheap so why not take advantage.  This is what is on the docket:

PAYING THE PIPER: In the forerunner to SAVING GRACE, The Piper is the infamous child kidnapper. When the Piper selected crime reporter, Scott Fleetwood, to chronicle his latest kidnapping, Scott thought he had the world in his grasp, but he held nothing. Now, eight years later, the Piper’s back, with very specific targets in mind—Scott’s children. He can have them back as long as he can pay the ransom, but it’s a ransom not measured in dollars, but in blood.

Just £1.00 at Amazon UK

THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY: Zoë and Holli’s Vegas road trip goes wrong when they’re abducted. Zoë escapes leaving Holli behind. A year later and still tortured with guilt, Zoë latches on to a murder that eerily resembles her abduction. Her attempts to find justice for Holli brings her to the attention of the “Tally Man.” For him, she is not a survivor but simply the one that got away.

Just $1.99 at Amazon

DECEPTIVE PRACTICES: Do you have a cheating spouse? Has counseling failed? Want to get even? Then hire Infidelity Limited to teach them a lesson. That’s the pitch Olivia Shaw bought into. When her husband is killed, she discovers that Infidelity Limited is far more dangerous than she ever believed. Now the prime suspect in her husband’s slaying, she has only one option—take down Infidelity Limited.

Just $1.99 at Amazon

NO SHOW: Englishman Terry Sheffield has just arrived in San Francisco to start his new life with Sarah, the investigative journalist he married after a transatlantic love affair. But Sarah never shows up at the airport… When Terry reports his wife as missing, the police chalk it up to a new bride with cold feet. Then one murdered woman after another turns up, all with something in common: they had exposed scandals just before their deaths…and their names appear on a list that Sarah composed. As a journalist, Sarah’s exposed her share of scandals, and Terry realizes that she’s not missing—she’s on the run. To find her before the killer does, Terry must explore the dark recesses of his new homeland and rely on the help of some new friends. But as his search brings him closer to finding Sarah, Terry realizes she’s very different from the woman he thought he married.

Just $0.99 at Amazon

If you’ve not tried any of my books before this might be the place to start.  For my long time readers, I hope you’ll continue to support my books and me.  Please as always share this post and share often.  Thanks for reading.

Categories: new book shelf life

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Longtime followers know that I donate to/fundraise for various charities each year and I usually drag you all in too.  I want to do something for the relief efforts for Hurricane Harvey and Irma.  The worst of the storms may have passed but the devastation hasn’t.

Here’s where you come in.  If you buy a book from my website bookstore, I’ll donate the value of your order to charity–dollar for dollar.  Not only will you be giving to charity but you’ll be getting a book out of it.  So don’t miss your chance to run me up.

Not everything is listed on the bookstore so if you’re looking for translated titles, out of print titles, hardbacks of the Aidy Westlake series and audiobook editions, let me know.  I can do a few MYSTERY BOXES.  If you’re ordering out of the USA, please contact me first so I can quote shipping costs.  Thanks.

I hope you’ll pick up a book or two for you, a friend or even an enemy.  And even if you don’t get a book, please share this post.  Thanks.

Categories: shelf life

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Wood-DeceptivePractices-21703-CV-FT-C3r5I am happy to announce that my new thriller DECEPTIVE PRACTICES is here to deceive you because it is launch day!!!!  The back jacket blurb goes a little like this:

“Do you have a cheating spouse?  Has counseling failed?  Want to get even with them?  Then hire Infidelity Limited to teach them a lesson…

“Olivia Shaw grew up poor on the wrong side of the tracks, but with her thriving real estate practice and a solid marriage, her life finally feels stable . . . until she discovers her husband is cheating. Enraged, her sister offers a solution: Infidelity Limited, a firm that promises to rough up her husband and scare him straight.

“Overnight, Olivia’s life is upended as she, like all of Infidelity Limited’s clients, is drawn into a dark web of blackmail and murder. Now, Olivia is emerging as a prime suspect in her husband’s death. As a dogged detective closes in,  she has only one option—take down Infidelity Limited before it’s too late.”

DECEPTIVE PRACTICES is the fourth and final book in the BAY AREA QUARTET. It’s a series based on location and DECEPTIVE PRACTICES is the East Bay installment.

4-title-bay-area

It’s available in paperback, as an eBook, on CD and as an audio download.  I hope you like it and please, please, please, spread the word by sharing this post and annoying family, friends and strangers.  Word of mouth is everything. World domination can’t happen without you!!  So please join in and do you bit.  🙂

Thanks for listening.

 

Categories: new book shelf life

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I’m pleased to present two new and improved releases—FATHER FIGURE & TENTHS OF A SECOND.  These short stories are available in audio and ebook format.  The stories are quite different. FATHER FIGURE is a Hitchcock Presents style crime piece while TENTHS OF A SECOND is very much rooted in the Twilight Zone.  Which is a good thing as shows formed my storytelling sensibilities.  🙂

father figureFATHER FIGURE: Childs is a son of a bitch and a bastard—literally as well as figuratively—but what he really is, is a small time con man. He’s about to upgrade to the big time and go after the score of his life by bilking the software mogul, Charles Reston, out of every penny he can get. He’s going to do it by convincing Reston that he’s his illegitimate son, which shouldn’t be too hard as the billionaire is his father. However, the problem with the long con is that you get a little too close to your mark…especially when you’re looking for a father figure.

Available from:
Amazon
AmazonUK
Audible
iTunes

Tenths of a Second audibleTENTHS OF A SECOND: Martin Warwick is a down on his luck racecar driver. His only accolade is to make the other drivers look good with his mediocre performances.  It’s not that Martin is a bad driver. He’s just not had the breaks.  He needs a better sponsor which would get him a better car and a little luck to put him ahead of the pack.  The break comes in the form of the mysterious Mallory.  He doesn’t have money or connections.  He has a device to make Martin and any car he drives better.

When your hopes and dreams are just outside of your grasp, you’re willing to do anything, regardless of the consequences.  Martin is about to find out what the price of fame really costs—and he’s willing to pay it gladly.

Available from:
Amazon
AmazonUK
Audible
iTunes

If you’re looking for a story for the commute or to fill a lunch hour then these stories are just the ticket.  I hope you’ll give them a read or listen.

 

 

Categories: new book

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FallGuy audio2I’m happy and pleased to announce the release of the audio edition of THE FALL GUY.  It’s available from the Audible and Apple stores worldwide.  The storyline is:

“Todd Collins has failed in every job he’s ever undertaken, but that all changes when he backs his jalopy in a shiny, new Porsche belonging to a drug dealer. When the police stop the drug dealer for a broken taillight that Todd has caused and discover a cocaine shipment, a West Coast kingpin holds Todd responsible. On the run from organized crime, Todd discovers his true calling when he fights back.”

The audio book is narrated by the wonderful Ed Hunter who read ROAD RASH and LOWLIFES.  Ed does a great job bringing hapless Todd to life.  I hope you’ll give it a listen.

Audible (US)
Audible (UK)
Audible (Australia)

iTunes (US)
iTunes (UK)
iTunes (Canada)
iTunes (Australia)

I hope you enjoy this second title from Dark Wood Books.

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Lowlifes audio3I’m happy and pleased to announce the release of the audio edition of LOWLIFES.  It’s available from the Audible and Apple stores worldwide.  The storyline is:

“San Francisco Detective Larry Hayes thinks he’s hit bottom when he wakes up in an alley after a bad trip with no memory of the last four hours.  This is only the beginning of his problems.  Two blocks away, Hayes’ informant, a homeless man named Noble Jon, lies dead, beaten and stabbed.  The eerie pangs of guilt seep into Hayes.  Is he Jon’s killer?  The mounting evidence says so.  Hayes mounts his own investigation to stay one step ahead of murder charge and disappears amongst the city’s homeless community.”

The audio book is narrated by the wonderful Ed Hunter who read ROAD RASH a couple of years ago.  Ed does a great job bringing troubled cop, Larry Hayes, to life.  I hope you’ll give it a listen.

Audible (US)
Audible (UK)
Audible (Australia)

iTunes (US)
iTunes (UK)
iTunes (Canada)
iTunes (Australia)

This is the first title produced under the Dark Wood Books label.  Expect more from them soon.

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TOTGASo THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY has been out for a month (two if you’re an Amazon Prime Member) and reader feedback has been coming in.  Quite a lot of it actually.  On Amazon.com, the book has racked up almost 2,000 reviews so far.  This is understandable as TOTGA (as the cool kids aka my editor calls it) is by far my fastest and bestselling book so far.  Phew!  I may be in publishing for a little while longer.

But a lot more readers mean a lot more opinions.  Luckily for me, people more often than not like TOTGA.  Thank God for that.  I was a little worried about reader feedback because there’d be a lot more people reading out of genre.  More exposure is nice…as long as everyone is of the same opinion and a positive opinion at that.  Well, it looks as if it is so.

Actually I’m quite pleased about TOTGA’s reception.  People, by and large, got it.  They embraced Zoë Sutton warts and all.  I wasn’t sure readers would, considering she is someone suffering from PTSD, which makes her a little difficult to like or understand at times.

But with every book, I get feedback that I wasn’t quite expecting.  So here are a few findings:

  • Quite a few people want or think TOTGA is the first in a new series. I didn’t have any plans to make Zoë Sutton a series character but now you’ve got me thinking. At this point I don’t know how I would take Zoë forward and maintain the same level of danger.
  • I’m surprised and amused by how many women have said they’re going to take fight classes after seeing what happened to Zoë. So be warned predatory men, the ladies are no pushover.
  • I’m touched by the therapists and victims of violence/stalkers thought I got Zoë right. This was a tough book to write because I tried to interview a number of victim support groups and all of them declined to speak to me so I’m glad people feel I got it right.
  • Some people have thought the violence is quite graphic and to be honest, most of the violence is off the page. It’s like Psycho, you see the knife but you don’t see anyone get stabbed. It’s your mind embellishes the rest.
  • And speaking of embellishments, I’ve had a few emails describe scenes/events that never took place. It happens with every book. People always bring something to the story.
  • People think the book is short but it’s longer than my last three and quite a bit longer than the average James Patterson. It’s a product of my writing style that it’s focused and pacey so it tends to feel brief.

When a book meets the public, it’s exciting and daunting because it’s an interpretive voyage of discovery…and the discovery will continue as the book continues to travel.

 

Categories: book of the month shelf life

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baby TOTGAI witnessed the birth of my sixteenth child a week last Sunday.  Although it’s my sixteenth baby, I’m just excited to see it as the first one.  THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY weighed in at 10oz and 8 inches long from head to toe.  Not a bad size and weight all things considered.  For an author, I don’t think there’s a smell like it.  It’s a combination of fresh paper and glue that hasn’t had the chance to breathe in the air.

Although I joke, bringing a book into the world isn’t much different from bringing a child into the world, although I won’t have to send it to college or pay for its wedding.  There’s the conception—that first spark of passion when the idea for the book is born.  The excitement builds as the story grows from an idea into a story and the page count swells.  It’s not long before it actually possesses a shape resembling the embryo manuscript.  The editing process refines its shape and it starts to resemble the story I wanted to make.  Then before I know it, it’s reached the end of its first trimester.

Then my baby enters a tricky stage as I search for a publisher and/or agent to assist with the birth.  This can be a long and treacherous route filled with disappointment and setbacks, but I always have faith regardless of the passage of time.  I know it has to happen.  It’s happened before.  And it does.  Someone shares my love for my book and offers a contract that carries my baby through to its final trimester.

TOTGAThis is the most nervous of times.  Everything looks sound enough, but I’ve experienced things going wrong.  Publishers can change their mind.  Circumstances can change.  And I have to keep a careful eye on developments.  But with little one, there were no such troubles.  Compared to some of my children (I’m looking at you WE ALL FALL DOWN), this book went to term with few problems.  It arrived on the day they told me.

Now that THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY is born—and did I mention it’s a fine looking kid—I still have a lot of work to do.  Like any proud father, I have to show this baby off.  Anyone and everyone who stops for more than two seconds is going to hear about how wonderful my baby is.  I know it may bore some, but I can’t help it.  I really love this one.  This isn’t to say that I like this one any better than the others.  Well, that’s what I tell my other books.

And what kind of father would I be if I didn’t break out the baby pictures?  So here’s a picture of baby THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY.

So it’s cigars all round and I hope you’ll enjoy the bambino as much as I do.

Categories: book of the month shelf life

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