HOLD STILL BY LISA REGAN- GUEST HOST + REVIEW + GIVEAWAY

Hold Still

by Lisa Regan

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BLURB:

Three men are viciously assaulting Philadelphia's prostitutes, and it's up to veteran detective Jocelyn Rush to stop them. She catches two, but they won't betray their partner, the most dangerous of all, and the attacks continue, striking closer to home. Jocelyn's only real clue comes when a monster from her past resurfaces--now she must race to connect the demons of her past with the villain of her present--before the sadistic attacker sets his sights on her.

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EXCERPT:

Pacing, Jocelyn loosened the brace on her wrist and rubbed the skin lightly before tightening it again. Exhaustion made her legs ache. It was nearing the end of her shift, but she knew they’d be there well after their shift doing paperwork. She remembered she’d promised Olivia they would go get a Halloween costume in the morning.

“This isn’t right,” Jocelyn said. “Why are they protecting this guy?”

Kevin sighed. “Who cares? It isn’t our problem anyway. Let’s just charge ‘em and leave ‘em down there till SVU picks them up.”

“With what?”

Kevin ran a hand over the thinning hair at his scalp. “Jesus Christ, Rush. With whatever we can. Rape, kidnapping, aggravated assault.”

She stopped pacing and looked at Kevin. “We need the third guy.”

“This is not our case. We’re not going after the third guy. We’re charging these guys, and we’re going home.”

Jocelyn stood before him and put her hands on her hips. She arched her brow until Kevin groaned loudly, leaning back in his chair and looking at the ceiling as if he wished aliens would abduct him right that very second. “What the hell, Rush?”

“When SVU takes over, I want to make sure we did our job.”

Kevin shook his head and looked back at her. “We did our job. Look, we’re not getting the third guy through these two. Did you offer Warner a deal?”

Jocelyn nodded. She rifled through her desk for the bottle of Ibuprofen she kept there. “He’s not taking a deal.”

.

.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Lisa Regan is a crime fiction author. Her first novel, Finding Claire Fletcher won Best Heroine in the eFestival of Words Best of the Independent eBook Awards 2013. It was runner-up for Best Novel. It was also a Digital Book Today Best of 2013 ebook selection. In December 2013, Finding Claire Fletcher and her second novel, Aberration were #1 Amazon bestsellers in the Kidnapping and Serial Killers categories, respectively.

Lisa is a member of Sisters In Crime. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in English and Master of Education Degree from Bloomsburg University. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband and daughter.

Her third novel, Hold Still is due out late March 2014!

Author Website: www.lisaregan.com

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Lisa-Regan/e/B009YY091I/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Lisa-Regan/189735444395923

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Lisalregan

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6443334.Lisa_Regan

Buy Links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Hold-Still-Lisa-Regan-ebook/dp/B00J2BHONO/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1395278962&sr=1-3&keywords=hold+still

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hold-still-lisa-regan/1118931695?ean=2940149424092

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/420047

Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/hold-still-3


IT'S MY PLEASURE TO HAVE LISA REGAN WITH US TODAY!!  LISA SHARES WITH US WHO HER FAVORITE AUTHOR IS AND WHY.

My Favorite Author

My favorite author is Karin Slaughter. She is definitely the author I have tried to emulate and my biggest influence. I just think she has it all. Her books have plenty of action, suspense and mystery but they also have a lot of emotional depth. I have become so attached to her characters over the years. It’s difficult not to get attached. None of her characters are perfect. They are all flawed; they all struggle. Sometimes they overcome their struggles but usually they don’t, and I find the degree of realism in her books oddly comforting. I know firsthand how violent crime can destroy lives and families, can alter your reality and your path and who you are forever. It’s ugly and messy and gritty and you can’t wrap something like that up in a nice, neat little bow, and Slaughter never tries. I really appreciate that about her work. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes it’s depressing and sad. There was a point in the Grant County series where one of her characters died and I thought I could never pick up another Slaughter book again. But I did. I think her work is even better since then. She is realistic and unflinching when it comes to violence and I respect that about her. I don’t think the violence in her books is gratuitous but at the same time, she certainly doesn’t shy away from it, and I think that lends a gravity to the subject matter that should always be there when writing about violence. There is a certain dignity to the way she writes. Aside from that, just in terms of craft, I think she is brilliant. I think her best book yet is Fallen and what really stood out about that book is that she starts out the book with the seminal event. The event that sets the entire book into motion is right there in the first chapter—where it should be. So many writers—myself included—dance around the occurrence that is basically the centerpiece of the book and start the plot somewhere else. Slaughter wastes no words. Finally, one of the things I love about her books is that even in all that dark subject matter, there is a lot of humor. Her characters have great, wry, witty senses of humor. It is very entertaining and given the violence in her books, you need a little comic relief.

I actually met her once in 2012 at Bouchercon. I made a total fool of myself. I nearly passed out. I was so overwhelmed. I know I babbled at her until she looked horrified—I have no idea what I said—but she was still so gracious and let me take a photo with her and John Connolly, who is another of my favorite authors. The way a normal person would react to meeting their favorite movie star or sports icon—yeah, that’s how I acted when I met her. Totally embarrassing. But I wouldn’t take it back. It was an honor just to meet her and later hear her speak at the conference.

 GIVEAWAY DETAILS!

Lisa will be awarding an eCopy of Hold Still to five randomly drawn commenters during the tour and a print book of Hold Still to five randomly drawn commenters (US & Canada ONLY). A grand prize of a $50 Amazon Gift Card will be awarded to one randomly drawn commenter during the tour

.Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here: 

 

http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2014/03/virtual-nbtm-book-tour-hold-still-by.html

Hold Still by Lisa Regan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hold Still by Lisa Regan is a 2014 independent publication. I was provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Hold Still is a dark thriller featuring Jocelyn Rush and her family secrets that intertwine with her current case. When a former street prostitute and drug addict is found crucified and sexually assaulted it becomes a personal case for Jocelyn. Yes, I said crucified. Hands and feet nailed. Nightmare material for sure. If this case weren't stressful enough, Jocelyn is nearly carjacked and her daughter , Olivia, was in imminent danger as a result. Then her sister is arrested... again. The one bright spot in Jocelyn's life, besides Olivia is that she has met a new guy and the really, really have some chemistry. But, other than that, Jocelyn is having a very hard time on her job as she fights every day in a male dominated occupation and is dealing with a little anger issue she is in denial about.
The author did a great job of bringing together the currant sexual assault case and Jocelyn's sordid family secrets and notches the suspense up a little at a time as we become more and more unsure about who is involved and who we can nor can not trust. Good and bad will come from this case and we are left with the hope that Jocelyn and her sister will be able to move forward now and enjoy a little closure and peace.

Overall this is a decent mystery thriller with a few twist and surprises here and there as well as few red herrings. The tone is dark and for those who do not like graphic depictions of violence be aware this book does have some pretty difficult scenes. The subject matter that has haunted Jocelyn for her entire adult life also involves difficult and uncomfortable topics. If you read a lot of crime novels you will find some areas are formulaic and predictable, perhaps you will even be able to connect the dots, however, I enjoy a good gritty crime thriller and this one is pretty good. I think this author is beginning to hit her stride here in this genre.
This one gets a 3.5 rounded to 4.