SETTING THE SCENE

With: Kylie Brant

Congratulations to Erin F. and Samgirl, the winners in Kylie's giveaway. Thank you to all who participated!

For me, bringing a story to life begins with the setting.  When I place a book in a unique place, that brings to mind an immediate mood and visual image, the setting almost becomes a character in the book.  And when I can visit the spot in question and do my own research of it, the scenes really come to life.

Such is the case with my newest release, WHAT THE DEAD KNOW, the eighth Mindhunters novel.  Last summer I planned a trip to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula because my book was going to be placed there.  To lure my husband into driving me ten hours J, we first went to Mackinaw Island at the northern most tip of the UP.  After spending three days there, we took two days coming home, because I wanted to mosey through the counties to get a feel for the scenery and towns.  At that point I hadn’t decided which county my story would be set in, so we went up the eastern side of the peninsula and returned through the western side.

What my husband saw on the trip:  lots of water.  Lots of trees.  Narrow roads.  What I saw:  Bodies of water where a killer could dispose of bodies.  Wilderness areas where a killer could dispose of bodies.  Mines where a killer could dispose of bodies…you get the drift. :)

I was blown away by how clear the Great Lakes were.  (Michigan and Superior.)  You could ride bikes along the shore and clearly see the bottom.  I love forests, and the UP is covered with them, with the Hiawatha Forest (the setting for some of the scenes in the book) being the vastest.  There are several wilderness areas on the UP.  I’m always thrilled to discover places that are relatively untouched by humans.  Several Native American tribes have a presence in the counties, and we visited one village located within a reservation.

These details and more are included in the book.  Of course, in my story the forest houses a killer that uses the isolated areas to hunt his victims.  Sheriff Keira Saxon teams up with Mindhunters agent Finn Carstens to track down the madman, who in turn makes them his next target.  

Giveaway:

The book released right after Christmas, so in the spirit of the holidays, we’ll have a giveaway.  Two winners will be selected from commenters telling me about the best present they’ve ever received.

WHAT THE DEAD KNOW

When Keira Saxon’s father was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, she quit her job as a Chicago homicide detective to head home. But she hadn’t been back on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula long before Danny Saxon was dead, killed in a deadly bear attack. Keira bowed to public pressure and agreed to run in the special election to fill the rest of her father’s term as sheriff. Although doubts about the circumstances of Danny's death lingered, doubts were all she had. Until she received a grisly delivery and learned that her father’s death wasn’t an accident at all. 

Finn Carstens agrees to partner with Keira’s department to solve the murder. When proof of a second victim comes to light, he realizes that the killer is engaging them in the deadliest of contests. Together they must unmask a man who lives—and kills—in the shadows. As they begin to discover his secrets they realize the chilling truth that only the killer's former victims knew: of all the predators lurking in the Michigan forests, man is the most lethal of all.

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Giveaway ends 11:59pm EST Dec. 27th. Please supply your email in the post. You may use spaces or full text for security. (ex. jsmith at gmail dot com) If you do not wish to supply your email, or have trouble posting, please email maureen@justromanticsuspense.com with a subject title of JRS GIVEAWAY to be entered in the current giveaway.