First Chapter Fun – Episode 359 – THE LONG MARCH HOME by Tosca Lee & Marcus Brotherton

Listen to bestselling, award-winning crime author Hank Phillippi Ryan read the description and opening pages of THE LONG MARCH HOME by Tosca Lee & Marcus Brotherton, which is available now!

About THE LONG MARCH HOME:

Jimmy Propfield joined the army for two reasons: to get out of Mobile, Alabama, with his best friends Hank and Billy and to forget his high school sweetheart, Claire. 

Life in the Philippines seems like paradise--until the morning of December 8, 1941, when news comes from Manila: Imperial Japan has bombed Pearl Harbor. Within hours, the teenage friends are plunged into war as enemy warplanes attack Luzon, beginning a battle for control of the Pacific Theater that will culminate with a last stand on the Bataan Peninsula and end with the largest surrender of American troops in history. 

What follows will become known as one of the worst atrocities in modern warfare: the Bataan Death March. With no hope of rescue, the three friends vow to make it back home together. But the ordeal is only the beginning of their nearly four-year fight to survive. 

About the author:

Tosca Lee is the New York Times bestselling author of twelve novels including The Long March Home (May 2, 2023 with Marcus Brotherton), The Line Between, A Single Light, and The Legend of Sheba. Her work has been translated into seventeen languages and optioned for TV and film. She is the recipient of multiple awards including two International Book Awards. Her work has been praised as “deeply human…” “powerful…” and “mind-bending.”

Lee earned her bachelor’s degree in English from Smith College. She also studied at Oxford University. A former first runner-up to Mrs. United States, she lives in Nebraska with her husband and one of four children still at home. 

Connect with Tosca:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/authortoscalee

Instagram: www.instagram.com/toscalee

Twitter: www.twitter.com/toscalee

Website: www.toscalee.com

Meet your First Chapter Fun hosts ⁠Hannah Mary McKinnon⁠ and ⁠Hank Phillippi Ryan⁠ and join us for First Chapter Fun ever Tuesday, live on ⁠Facebook⁠ and ⁠Instagram⁠ at 12.30 p.m. ET (or catch up later on this podcast).

Stay safe. Stay kind. See you next time on First Chapter Fun!

Hank & Hannah x

Note: read with the author's and publisher's permission

First Chapter Fun – Episode 358 – PERFECT SHOT by Steve Urszenyi

Listen to internationally bestselling crime and rom-com author Hannah Mary McKinnon read the description and opening pages PERFECT SHOT by Steve Urszenyi, which is available now!

About PERFECT SHOT:

Special Agent Alexandra Martel has put her days on the battlefield behind her. Charming and disarming, relentless and lethal, she earned a reputation as one of the most renowned and decorated Army snipers in the service before stepping away. But when Alex, now an FBI special agent on loan to Interpol, learns that an old friend, an MI5 officer, has been killed under mysterious circumstances, she’s pulled back into the dangerous world she left behind: a world where some people fear her, some want to recruit her, and everyone seems to want her dead.

Following a trail of clues left behind by the dead woman, Alex pieces together a terrifying conspiracy that only escalates when a nuclear warhead goes missing. Dodging death at every turn, she reluctantly joins forces with a CIA officer, but he has plans of his own for her—and will stop at nothing to achieve them.

Chasing the truth through the streets of London and bustling Turkish markets to the underbelly of Paris, Alex is unrelenting in her pursuit of justice. But as the clock ticks down and the world edges closer to doom, she must fall back on her Special Ops skills to stop the unthinkable. She thought her life as a sniper was over—but with stakes this high, she must use whatever means necessary to render the world safe.

About the author:  

Steve Urszenyi served for many years as a paramedic and a police tactical medic. He is an expert in chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosives (CBRNE) incident response. When not writing, Steve loves international travel and touring on his Harley-Davidson motorcycle with his wife, Lynne. They live in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Connect with Steve:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/SteveUrszenyiAuthor

Instagram: www.instagram.com/steveurszenyi

Twitter/X: www.twitter.com/steveurszenyi

Website: www.steveurszenyi.com

Meet your First Chapter Fun hosts ⁠Hannah Mary McKinnon⁠ and ⁠Hank Phillippi Ryan⁠ and join us for First Chapter Fun ever Tuesday, live on ⁠Facebook⁠ and ⁠Instagram⁠ at 12.30 p.m. ET (or catch up later on this podcast).

Stay safe. Stay kind. See you next time on First Chapter Fun!

Hank & Hannah x

Note: read with the author's and publisher's permission

First Chapter Fun – Episode 357 – THESE STILL BLACK WATERS by Christina McDonald

Listen to bestselling, award-winning crime author Hank Phillippi Ryan read the description and opening pages of THESE STILL BLACK WATERS by Christina McDonald, which is available now!

About THESE STILL BLACK WATERS:

After a violent home invasion, Neve Maguire returns with her daughter to Black Lake, her childhood summer home, hoping for a fresh start. But when the body of a woman is found floating among the reeds in the lake behind her house, she fears she has made a horrible mistake.

Neve is hiding secrets, though. Detective Jess Lambert can tell. Recently back after her own personal tragedy, Jess knows what it’s like to live with skeletons in your closet, and she’s sure Neve has a few of her own.

When another woman’s body is found, Jess and Neve are forced to confront a horrible truth. Because one thing is clear: the darkness of the past is waiting. And the secrets of Black Lake are only just beginning to surface.

About the author:

Christina McDonald is the USA Today bestselling author of These Still Black Waters, Do No Harm, Behind Every Lie and The Night Olivia Fell, which has been optioned for television by a major Hollywood studio. She is from Seattle but now lives in London, England with her husband, two sons, and their dog, Tango. She’s currently working on her next novel.

Connect with Christina:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/christinamcdonaldauthor

Instagram: www.instagram.com/christinamac79

Twitter: www.twitter.com/christinamac79

Website: www.christina-mcdonald.com

Meet your First Chapter Fun hosts ⁠⁠⁠Hannah Mary McKinnon⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠Hank Phillippi Ryan⁠⁠⁠ and join us for First Chapter Fun ever Tuesday,

Stay safe. Stay kind. See you next

Hank & Hannah x

Note: read with the author's and publisher's permission

First Chapter Fun – Episode 356 – KISSING KOSHER by Jean Meltzer

Listen to internationally bestselling crime & rom-com author Hannah Mary McKinnon read the description and opening pages of KISSING KOSHER by Jean Meltzer, which is available now!

About KISSING KOSHER:

Avital Cohen isn’t wearing underpants—woefully, for unsexy reasons. Chronic pelvic pain has forced her to sideline her photography dreams and her love life. It’s all she can do to manage her family’s kosher bakery, Best Babka in Brooklyn, without collapsing. She needs hired help. And distractingly handsome Ethan Lippmann seems the perfect fit.

Except Ethan isn’t there to work—he’s undercover, at the behest of his ironfisted grandfather. Though Lippmann’s is a household name when it comes to mass-produced kosher baked goods, they don’t have the charm of Avital’s bakery. Or her grandfather’s world-famous pumpkin-spiced babka recipe.

As they bake side by side, Ethan soon finds himself more interested in Avital than in stealing family secrets, especially as he helps her find the chronic pain relief—and pleasure—she’s been missing. But perfecting the recipe for romance calls for leaving out the lies…even if coming clean means risking everything.

About the author:  

Jean Meltzer studied dramatic writing at NYU Tisch and has earned numerous awards for her work in television, including a Daytime Emmy. She spent five years in rabbinical school before her chronic illness forced her to withdraw, and her father told her she should write a book—just not a Jewish one because no one reads those. Kissing Kosher is her third novel.

Connect with Jean:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/JeanMeltzerAuthor

Instagram: www.instagram.com/JeanMeltzer

Website: www.jeanmeltzer.com

Meet your First Chapter Fun hosts ⁠Hannah Mary McKinnon⁠ and ⁠Hank Phillippi Ryan⁠ and join us for First Chapter Fun ever Tuesday, live on ⁠Facebook⁠ and ⁠Instagram⁠ at 12.30 p.m. ET (or catch up later on this podcast).

Stay safe. Stay kind. See you next time on First Chapter Fun!

Hank & Hannah x

Note: read with the author's and publisher's permission

First Chapter Fun – Episode 355 – HAVE YOU SEEN HER by Catherine McKenzie

Listen to bestselling, award-winning crime author Hank Phillippi Ryan read the description and opening pages of HAVE YOU SEEN HER by Catherine McKenzie, which is available now!

About HAVE YOU SEEN HER:

Equipped with a burner phone and a new job, Cassie Peters has left her hectic and secretive life in New York City for the refuge of her hometown of Mammoth Lakes, California. There, she begins working again with Yosemite Search and Rescue, where a case she worked a decade ago continues to haunt her.

She quickly falls into old patterns, joining a group of fellow seasonal workers and young adventurers who have made Yosemite their home during the summer. There, she meets Petal, a young woman living in a trailer with her much older wife, keeping a detailed diary of the goings on of the park, and Jada, a recent college graduate on a cross-country road trip with her boyfriend, documenting their journey on Instagram.

When these three women cross paths, Cassie’s past catches up with her, and the shocking consequences ripple out far beyond what any could have imagined in this unputdownable thriller from an author who “never fails to impress” (Mary Kubica, New York Times bestselling author).

About the author:

Catherine McKenzie was born and raised in Montreal, Canada. A graduate of McGill in History and Law, Catherine practiced law for twenty years before leaving the practice to write full time. An avid runner, skier and tennis player, she’s the author of numerous bestsellers including HIDDEN, FRACTURED, THE GOOD LIAR and I’LL NEVER TELL. Her works have been translated into multiple languages and PLEASE JOIN US and I’LL NEVER TELL have all been optioned for development into television series.

Connect with Catherine:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/catherinemckenzieauthor

Instagram: www.instagram.com/catherinemckenzieauthor

Twitter / X: www.twitter.com/cemckenzie

Website: www.catherinemckenzie.com

Meet your First Chapter Fun hosts ⁠Hannah Mary McKinnon⁠ and ⁠Hank Phillippi Ryan⁠ and join us for First Chapter Fun ever Tuesday, live on ⁠Facebook⁠ and ⁠Instagram⁠ at 12.30 p.m. ET (or catch up later on this podcast).

Stay safe. Stay kind. See you next time on First Chapter Fun!

Hank & Hannah x

Note: read with the author's and publisher's permission

First Chapter Fun – Episode 354 – TWISTED by Maggie Giles

Listen to internationally bestselling author Hannah Mary McKinnon read the description and opening pages TWISTED by Maggie Giles, which is available now!

About TWISTED:

Detective Ryan Boone thought the simple jewelry heist was an open and shut case. That is until he discovers an unknown drug, and this minor crime he was investigating may be tied to a string of seemingly unconnected murders.

Meanwhile, Mel Parker, unscrupulous leader of a less-than-legal high-end escort service, stumbles across the same pills. On top of protecting her “investment,” she has her own reasons for attempting to unravel the mystery behind the medication.

Ryan knows someone has the answers he seeks, and Mel can’t come forward. To complicate things further, five other women are implicated in the murders despite most having never met.

As the trail turns up as many mysteries as resolutions, Ryan and Mel must discover the twisted connection before someone else ends up dead.

About the author:  

Maggie Giles is a Canadian author who is usually daydreaming about fictional characters. Always looking for a new creative outlet, Maggie dove into writing a novel head first. She has been a member of the Women's Fiction Writers Association since 2014 where she works as their Social Media Director.

Connect with Maggie:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/maggiegiles2251

Instagram: www.instagram.com/maggiegiles

Twitter: www.twitter.com/maggiegiles

Website: www.maggiegiles.com

Meet your First Chapter Fun hosts ⁠Hannah Mary McKinnon⁠ and ⁠Hank Phillippi Ryan⁠ and join us for First Chapter Fun ever Tuesday, live on ⁠Facebook⁠ and ⁠Instagram⁠ at 12.30 p.m. ET (or catch up later on this podcast).

Stay safe. Stay kind. See you next time on First Chapter Fun!

Hank & Hannah x

Note: read with the author's and publisher's permission

First Chapter Fun – Episode 353 – BROADWAY BUTTERFLY by Sara DiVello

Listen to bestselling, award-winning crime author Hank Phillippi Ryan read the description and opening pages of BROADWAY BUTTERFLY by Sara DiVello, which is available now!

About BROADWAY BUTTERFLY:

Manhattan, 1923. Scandalous flapper Dot King is found dead in her Midtown apartment, a bottle of chloroform beside her and a fortune in jewels missing. Dot’s headline-making murder grips the city. It also draws a clutch of lovers, parasites, and justice seekers into one of the city’s most mesmerizing mysteries.

Among them: Daily News crime reporter Julia Harpman, chasing the story while navigating a male-dominated industry; righteous NYPD detective John D. Coughlin, struggling against city corruption; and Ella Bradford, the victim’s Harlem maid, closest confidante, and keeper of secrets. Adding fuel to the already volatile crime: a politically connected Philadelphia socialite, an Atlantic City bootlegger, Dot’s dicey gigolo lover, a sultry Broadway dancer, and a cagey sugar daddy guarding secrets of his own.

About the author:

Sara DiVello is a true crime writer and the creator/host of Mystery and Thriller Mavens, a popular author interview series and interactive Facebook group. Her book, Broadway Butterfly: A Thriller, was an Entertainment Weekly Most Anticipated Book, was a Vanity Fair recommended read, was selected by the CBS New York Book Club, and earned starred reviews from Booklist and Library Journal.

For her weekly Mystery and Thriller Mavens live events, Sara has interviewed over 350 authors, ranging from the bestselling and world-renowned to the buzziest debuts. While creative and active on her own social media platforms, DiVello also serves as the director of social media strategy for the International Thriller Writers association.

Connect with Sara:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/authorsaradivello

Instagram: www.instagram.com/saradivello

Twitter/X: www.twitter.com/saradivello

Website: www.saradivello.com

Meet your First Chapter Fun hosts ⁠Hannah Mary McKinnon⁠ and ⁠Hank Phillippi Ryan⁠ and join us for First Chapter Fun ever Tuesday, live on ⁠Facebook⁠ and ⁠Instagram⁠ at 12.30 p.m. ET (or catch up later on this podcast).

Stay safe. Stay kind. See you next time on First Chapter Fun!

Hank & Hannah x

Note: read with the author's and publisher's permission

First Chapter Fun – Episode 352 – BLOOD SISTERS by Vanessa Lillie

Listen to internationally bestselling author Hannah Mary McKinnon read the description and opening pages of BLOOD SISTERS by Vanessa Lillie, which is available October 31st!

About BLOOD SISTERS:

There are secrets in the land.

As an archaeologist for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Syd Walker spends her days in Rhode Island trying to protect the land's indigenous past, even as she’s escaping her own.

While Syd is dedicated to her job, she’s haunted by a night of violence she barely escaped in her Oklahoma hometown fifteen years ago. Though she swore she’d never go back, the past comes calling.

When a skull is found near the crime scene of her youth, just as her sister, Emma Lou, vanishes, Syd knows she must return home. She refuses to let her sister's disappearance, or the remains, go ignored—as so often happens in cases of missing Native women.

But not everyone is glad to have Syd home, and she can feel the crosshairs on her. Still, the deeper Syd digs, the more she uncovers about a string of missing indigenous women cases going back decades. To save her sister, she must expose a darkness in the town that no one wants to face—not even Syd.

The truth will be unearthed.

About the author:

Vanessa Lillie is the author of the Rhode Island-set bestselling thrillers Little Voices and For the Best and the creator of the Audible Original co-authored bestselling series Young Rich Widows, which was an International Thriller Writers Best Audiobook nominee, with a sequel, Desperate Deadly Widows, forthcoming.

Her latest book, Blood Sisters, featuring a Cherokee archaeologist, will launch on Halloween. She also had a weekly column in the Providence Journal about life during the pandemic. Vanessa is an enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma living on Narragansett land in Rhode Island with her husband, third grade son and bossy pugapoo.

Connect with Vanessa:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/vanessalillieauthor

Instagram: www.instagram.com/vanessalillie

Twitter / X: www.twitter.com/vanessalillie

Website: www.vanessalillie.com

Meet your First Chapter Fun hosts ⁠Hannah Mary McKinnon⁠ and ⁠Hank Phillippi Ryan⁠ and join us for First Chapter Fun ever Tuesday, live on ⁠Facebook⁠ and ⁠Instagram⁠ at 12.30 p.m. ET (or catch up later on this podcast).

Stay safe. Stay kind. See you next time on First Chapter Fun!

Hank & Hannah x

Note: read with the author's and publisher's permission

First Chapter Fun – Episode 351 – THE BAKER’S MAN by Jennifer Moorman

Listen to award-winning, bestselling crime author Hank Phillippi Ryan read the description and opening pages of THE BAKER’S MAN by Jennifer Moorman, which is available now!

About THE BAKER’S MAN:

Anna O’Brien inherited several gifts from her late Grandma Bea: culinary superpowers, a bakery in a charming Southern town, and a mysterious box with a note:

Open the box only when you need to. You’ll know exactly when you do, and you’ll know what to do with it. I love you.

The night her presumed fiancé crushes her dreams, Anna opens the box and finds “magic sugar” inside, along with a recipe to bake “the perfect man.” Encouraged by her best friend Lily (and maybe a wee bit too much rum), a heartbroken Anna sets out to do what she always does when she’s feeling blue: bake.

She hardly believes her eyes the next morning when a man—a breathing and rather handsome man—is in her bakery and seems to know all her likes and dislikes, her quirks and preferences. Elijah is everything Anna dreamed and nothing she expected. Where did he come from? Is he real? And when he fashions his own ideas about what makes a good life, can she let him go?

About the author:

Jennifer Moorman is the bestselling author of the magical realism Mystic Water Series. Jennifer starting writing in elementary school, crafting epic tales of adventure and love and magic. She wrote stories in Mead notebooks, on printer paper, on napkins, on the soles of her shoes. Her blog is full of dishes inspired by fiction, and she hosts baking classes showcasing these recipes. Jennifer considers herself a traveler, a baker, and a dreamer.

Connect with Jennifer:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/jennifermoormanbooks

Instagram: www.instagram.com/jenniferrmoorman

Website: www.jennifermoorman.com

Meet your First Chapter Fun hosts ⁠⁠Hannah Mary McKinnon⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠Hank Phillippi Ryan⁠⁠ and join us for First Chapter Fun ever Tuesday, live on ⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ at 12.30 p.m. ET (or catch up later on this podcast).

Stay safe. Stay kind. See you next time on First Chapter Fun!

Hank & Hannah x

Note: read with the author's and publisher's permission

First Chapter Fun – Episode 350 – DEATH OF A DANCING QUEEN by Kimberly G. Giarratano

Listen to bestelling author Hannah Mary McKinnon read the description and opening pages of DEATH OF A DANCING QUEEN by Kimberly G. Giarratano, which is available now!

About DEATH OF A DANCING QUEEN:

After her mother’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis, Billie Levine revamped her grandfather’s private investigation firm and set up shop in the corner booth of her favorite North Jersey deli hoping the free pickles and flexible hours would allow her to take care of her mom and pay the bills. So when Tommy Russo, a rich kid with a nasty drug habit, offers her a stack of cash to find his missing girlfriend, how can she refuse? At first, Billie thinks this will be easy earnings, but then her missing person's case turns into a murder investigation and Russo is the detective bureau’s number one suspect. 

Suddenly Billie is embroiled in a deadly gang war that’s connected to the decades-old disappearance of a famous cabaret dancer with ties to both an infamous Jewish mob and a skinhead group. Toss in the reappearance of Billie’s hunky ex-boyfriend with his own rap sheet, and she is regretting every decision that got her to this point. Becoming a P.I. was supposed to solve her problems. But if Billie doesn’t crack this case, the next body the police dredge out of the Hudson River will be hers.

About the author:

Kimberly G. Giarratano is an author of mysteries for teens and adults. Her debut novel, Grunge Gods and Graveyards, won the 2015 Silver Falchion Award for Best YA at Killer Nashville. A former librarian, she is currently an instructor at SUNY Orange County Community College and a reviewer for BookPage. She is also the chapter liaison for Sisters in Crime. Born in New York and raised in New Jersey, Kim and her husband moved to the Poconos to raise their three kids amid black bears and wild turkeys. While she doesn’t miss the traffic, she’d give anything for a decent bagel and lox.

Connect with Kimberly:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/KGGiarratanoAuthor

Instagram: www.instagram.com/kimgarnickgiarratano

Twitter/X: www.twitter.com/KGGiarratano

Website: www.kimberlyggiarratano.com

Meet your First Chapter Fun hosts ⁠⁠Hannah Mary McKinnon⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠Hank Phillippi Ryan⁠⁠ and join us for First Chapter Fun ever Tuesday, live on ⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ at 12.30 p.m. ET (or catch up later on this podcast).

Stay safe. Stay kind. See you next time on First Chapter Fun!

Hank & Hannah x

Note: read with the author's and publisher's permission