Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Blurb Blitz ~ Byzantine Gold by Chris Karlsen and Giveaway


A sunken warship from the Byzantine Era carrying an unusual cargo of gold has been found off the coast of Northern Cyprus. News of the valuable cache has attracted the attention of a terrorist cell. They plan to attack the recovery team’s campsite and steal the artifacts. On the Black Market, the sale of the relics will buy them additional weapons.

Charlotte Dashiell, an American archaeologist, and her lover, Atakan Vadim, a Turkish government agent, are scheduled to be part of the recovery team that brings up the artifacts. While en route to Cyprus, they find themselves caught in the crosshairs of Maksym Tischenko, a Ukrainian contract killer bent on revenge. Charlotte, Atakan and Tischenko share a grim history. As a result, Tischenko is a man who will stop at nothing to achieve his goal—seeing them both dead.

 Buy links: Paperback \ Kindle

********* EXCERPT *********

 
Atakan didn’t answer as he sped out of camp, spraying dirt and stones behind them.

“What’s going on? Why are you in such a hurry?”

He stared straight ahead, silent.

“Atakan?”

Tight-jawed, he continued down the side road that paralleled the beach, ramming the stick shift into place as he went through the gears and ignoring her questions. She’d never seen him this tense, not with her at least. A bad feeling crept over her. She had a sick sense his mood involved her plan to leave.

They’d gone a kilometer from the camp when he came to a stop. He hopped out, slammed the driver’s door shut and came to her side.

Opening her door, he said, “Get out.”

She did.

“Atakan,” Charlotte started to ask the same questions again, but he was already turned and walking toward the sea.

She followed. He finally stopped near the water’s edge with his back to the surf and faced her. She stopped a couple of yards away.

“When were you going to tell me?”

She knew exactly what he was asking about. Who told him? It wasn’t Nick. He’d honor the twenty-four hour rule.

“Who told you?”

“That’s not an answer.” He stood still as a statue, arms crossed, feet apart.

She hesitated, trying to choose her words so he’d understand and not be hurt. She gazed out at the incoming tide. The blue-green waves, effervescent with bubbles, rushed toward shore in rapid succession. White foam droplets filled the air as they crested, framing him like a new, angry version of Poseidon.

“Answer me.”

“Today.”

“You weren’t going to tell me until today, although you’ve been planning to leave me for awhile.”

“Not awhile.”

“Long enough to send job inquiries to several museums.”

So that was how he knew. One of the museums contacted MIAR and they must’ve sent the questionnaire to Refik and he told Atakan. She hadn’t considered the possibility. She’d thought any contact from the museums would be handled by MIAR’s headquarters.

“I’m so sorry you had to find out this way. I intended to tell you if it looked like I’d definitely leave. If none of the museums showed interest, then you never had to know what I’d done.”

“And you believe that is acceptable?”

It killed her to see the look of disgust on his face with the question. “Yes...” she said low.

“Why?”

“Because I’m bad luck for you—everyone can see it, even your--, it’s obvious. There’s something about me, and God knows, I don’t know what, but I’m like a magnet for Tischenko.”

She never cried and she wouldn’t cry now, but she was close. “I can’t bear to see you hurt again, or worse. There are people that bad luck follows, even Iskender thinks so.”

Atakan inhaled deeply and let out a slow breath. Uncrossing his arms, he closed the short distance to where she stood.

“It’s not forever,” she offered, “I’ll return.”

He shook his head. “If you go, you cannot return. You’re either in my life or out of my life. There’s no in between.”
 


 Chris is a retired police detective. She spent twenty-five years in the law enforcement with two different agencies.

The daughter of a history professor and a voracious reader, she grew up with a love for history and books.

She has traveled extensively throughout Europe, the Near East, and Northern Africa satisfying her passion for seeing the places she read about.

A Chicago native, Chris has lived in Paris, Los Angeles, and now resides with her husband, and five rescue dogs in the Pacific Northwest.


********* GIVEAWAY *********  

Chris will award one randomly drawn commenter at every stop an ebook copy of Golden Chariot, and one randomly drawn commenter will be awarded a $50 Amazon gift card during the tour. A $25 Amazon gift card will be awarded to a randomly drawn host. So please make sure you leave an email address to be able to contact you in case you win. Also if you would like more chances to win you can follow the tour HERE

16 comments:

Goddess Fish Promotions said...

Thank you for hosting

Gala said...

Poor Charlotte, it sounds like she had some rough times, to make her want to leave her lover....

galaschick78(at)gmail(dot)com

Chris Karlsen said...

Good Morning,
I'd like to thank Lindsey for the opportunity to showcase my book. I look forward to talking to everyone.
Have a super day,
Chris Karlsen

Chris Karlsen said...

Hi Gala,
Thank you for visiting with me again. Yes, Charlotte is having a terrible day. A lot is going on with her and most of it isn't good.
Chris K

Ami said...

Fabulous excerpt, now I'm curious why the this Teschenko guy is following her....

shadowrunner1987 at gmail dot com

MomJane said...

Another great excerpt. Really makes me want to read this story.

Chris Karlsen said...

Hi Ami and MomJane,
Charlotte has a lot going on in this part of the book. She has several worries and she fears for Atakan who is Tischenko's target.

Tischenko kidnapped and tortured Charlotte in Golden Chariot. He knows she's afraid of him and by calling and letting her know he's watching her, he's scaring her more. He's playing a psychological game with her.
Chris

Chelsea B. said...

Guh! Consider my heart strings pulled.

justforswag(AT)yahoo(DOT)com

Chris Karlsen said...

Hi Chelsea,

How cool, I wanted that reaction:)
Chris

Catherine Lee said...

Hi Chris! I enjoyed Golden Chariot and look forward to reading Byzantine Gold.
catherinelee100 at gmail dot com

bn100 said...

Enjoyed the excerpt.

bn100candg(at)hotmail(dot)com

Chris Karlsen said...

Hi Catherine Lee and bn,

I'm glad you're enjoying the excerpts and the trailer.

Catherine Lee, I'd love to hear your thoughts on Byzantine Gold after you read it.
Chris

Mary Preston said...

This is going to be such an exciting read.

marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com

Chris Karlsen said...

Hi Mary,
Thank you. I hope so:)
Chris

Vidya Ravi said...

Hope you are enjoying the tour..it sounds good.

booksaremagicblogspot at gmail dot com

Anonymous said...

Wondering about the shared grim history between the three.

strive4bst(At) yahoo(Dot) com