Welcome to the Virtual Blog Tour for The Tempest, a new Bowers and Hunter Mystery by James Lilliefors! Check out more about the book and the author, as well as Tina’s Thoughts, and you can read the prologue to the book! Make sure to enter the giveaway for your chance to win your won copy. Happy Reading! 

THE TEMPEST
A Bowers and Hunter Mystery
James Lilliefors
Genre: Suspense
Publication Date: July 28th, 2015
Published by Witness Impulse

James Lilliefors’s unlikely detective duo, Pastor Luke Bowers and homicide investigator Amy Hunter, return in a new murder mystery set in Maryland’s picturesque Tidewater County.

Tourists like Susan Champlain pass through the Chesapeake Bay region every year. But when Susan pays Pastor Luke Bowers a visit, he’s disturbed by what she shares with him. Her husband has a short temper, she says, and recently threatened to make her “disappear” because of a photo Susan took on her phone.

Luke is concerned enough to tip off Tidewater County’s chief homicide investigator, Amy Hunter. That night, Susan’s body is found at the foot of the Widow’s Point bluff. Hunter soon discovers Susan left behind clues that may connect her fate to a series of killings in the Northeast, a powerful criminal
enterprise, and to a missing Rembrandt masterpiece, The Storm on the Sea of Galilee.

Whoever is behind the killings has created a storm of deception and betrayal, a deliberate “tempest” designed to obscure the truth. Now Hunter and Bowers must join forces to trace the dangerous secret glimpsed in Susan’s photo. But will they be the next targets on a killer’s deadly agenda . . .

You can purchase your copy today at the retailers listed below!

Amazon | B & N | iTunes | Kobo

If you are a fan of crime shows such as Castle and White Collar, this book might just be right up your alley! The Tempest is a story about a homicide detective and local pastor who team up to find justice and seek the truth. This story follows the death of a young woman in the small and quiet Tidewater County that leads to a bigger scheme and the mystery of missing Rembrandt painting. This book follows the ins and outs of the local police investigation as well as the sinister plans of the criminals afoot.

The Tempest was quite a switch from what I have been reading over the past few months and at first it took quite a bit of time for me to transition into the story and appreciate the genre and writing style. The story begins and it was a bit hard to flow for me but I kept going, determined to give it a chance, knowing that it was a change for my norm of the day, and I was pleasantly surprised at the plot lines and the book as a whole. I could see this story being played out on the big screen. It reads like a movie plot, giving the reader insider information, understanding as to what is happening on a level that is above the characters themselves. There are still plot twists and surprises that you did not see coming but the reader is allowed a bird’s eye view of the drama unfolding.

I enjoyed reading Hunter and Bowers’ characters. They are so different but their desire to see justice prevail sets them on a similar path towards a common goal. It was refreshing to read two characters that were not wrought with personal drama. Instead the story focuses on the details and plot unfolding, allowing for personal stories to add character but not the drama I have become desensitized to. Hunter is a strong minded female detective and I appreciated that she was collected, smart, and focused. Her brains and determination are the main focus, not her looks or history. Bowers is a different character but I really admired what the author did with his character. In so many books today pastors and religion are the focus of something that is twisted and challenged. Not in this story. Bowers occupation and life choices enhance the story but don’t preach. They add to his character and disposition but do not bog down what is happening. I appreciated that his career was not a theme to be focused on but instead built a character who was compassionate and determined, a family man who wants to see justice.

The ins and outs of this investigation were interesting to see played out in the pages of this book. It was full of fluidity and discovery, constantly moving the reader from one point to another, giving insight but never truly revealing secrets until the opportune moment. Once my mind switched into Mystery Genre gear I was swept into a story of murder, justice, and suspense. If you love a good cop story and mystery, filled with determination and class, then this book should be on your TBR list!

Prologue

Spring

“Miracles. What can I tell you? In a skeptical world, if a real miracle occurred, it wouldn’t even make the evening news. Who would believe it? This one, though, will be different. This one, the skeptics won’t be able to explain. People will want to see for themselves; they’ll line up around the block to have a look. That’s what we need to talk about.”

Walter Kepler watched his attorney’s own skepticism harden slightly as he waited on the details of Kepler’s plan. Jacob Weber was used to this, to Kepler’s Barnum-like enthusiasms as he introduced a new idea. Weber had precise, dark eyes, a narrow face, bristly white hair cut close to the scalp. Seen from behind, he could appear as small and fragile as a child. But he also possessed that rarest of human qualities—consistent good judgment; unerringly good, in Kepler’s estimation.

As presented, Kepler’s plan consisted of three parts: A sells a painting to B; B sells the painting to C; and C (who was Kepler) uses the painting to bring about a “miracle.” The first two parts of the plan he would handle himself, with the assistance of Nicholas Champlain and, of course, Belasco. It was for third part that he needed Jacob Weber’s help—needed his judgment, and, ultimately, his skills as a negotiator.

Kepler had been formulating versions of this plan in his head since he was a boy, trailing his father through the great art museums of the Northeast and Europe, stopping to stare at some painting or sculpture that, his father insisted, was not only an important work but also a masterpiece. With time, Kepler had learned to tell the difference, to understand why certain paintings—like certain people, and ideas—held greater intrinsic value than others. He had spent much of his adult life refining that understanding, through the storms of sudden wealth, divorce and the more mundane trials of daily living.

When he finished telling Weber his plan, Kepler turned the conversation to the painting. He watched Weber’s face flush with a new interest as he described the masterpiece that had dominated his thoughts for the past three weeks, ever since he’d ascertained that it was the real thing. The tempest. Fourteen men trapped on a boat. Each responds differently to a life-threatening storm: one trying valiantly to fix the main sail, another cowering in terror from the waves, one calmly steering the rudder. Fourteen men, fourteen reactions. Kepler imagined how his attorney would react once the waters began to churn in another several months.

Then Kepler sat back and let Jacob Weber voice his concerns. They were much as he had expected—candid, well-reasoned, occasionally surprising. Kepler managed to fend off most; those he couldn’t, he stored away.

“So what are we looking at?” his attorney asked. “When would it need to happen?”

Kepler glanced at Weber’s right hand, absently tracing the stem of the coffee cup. It was a pleasant April morning, the bay shivering with whitecaps.

“Late summer,” he said. “August, I’m thinking.”

His attorney thought about that, showing no expression. Calculating how the plan would interrupt and impact his own life, no doubt. Jacob Weber finally closed and opened his eyes. He nodded. “It’s do-able,” he said. After a thoughtful pause, he added, “Actually, I kind of like it.”

Weber’s response would have sounded lukewarm to an outsider. To Kepler, it was a hearty endorsement. In fact, he had never known Jacob Weber to be quite so enthusiastic about one of his ideas. All in all, it was a very good start.

To celebrate The Tempest and the blog tour, James is hosting a giveaway! Enter this Rafflecopter giveaway for your chance to win  one of 10 Digital Downloads of The Tempest by James Lilliefors (via Bluefire). Just follow the listed instructions and you will be entered for your chance to win! Don’t miss out. Good luck!

James Lilliefors is the author of the geopolitical thriller novels The Levianthan Effect and Viral. A journalist and novelist who grew up near Washington DC, Lilliefors is also the author of three nonfiction books. He writes the Luke Bowers and Amy Hunter series for Witness.