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Darkness and Blood - Book Tour and Giveaway

6/29/2018

26 Comments

 
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Darkness and Blood
by Steve Haberman
Genre: Thriller

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There are letter bombs.
There are car bombs.

And in Steve Haberman's upcoming DARKNESS AND BLOOD, there is a file bomb, ultra top secret information so horrifying in its content that an unintended recipient, after downloading it, dies from a heart attack?

The south of France, past midnight.

An American intelligence officer, accompanied by several bodyguards, has secretly flown in from London, with some terrible news.  The news is for a friend, a very ex-intelligence agent, hiding out in an ancient farmhouse.  A mutual confidant, a retired MI5 analyst, he explains, has suffered an odd cardiac arrest and died. To compound the mystery, just before the death, three men had entered the deceased's flat.  Two of them ranked high up in British domestic intelligence; the third--from the CIA or MI6?--was an unknown. Minutes later, presumably after their old friend had passed away, those three fled his flat and disappeared into the London night.

So sets in motion with this strange night tale the soon-to-be-released thriller, DARKNESS AND BLOOD. The unnerving, all-too-real sequel to THE KILLING PLOY.



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​Chapter 1
THE MIDNIGHT INTRUDER     
                                                                     
     Pablo de Silva, ex-CIA agent, awoke from the restless sleep of a man on the run. Had he heard a noise somewhere outside his farmhouse? Intel operatives had found his hideaway to kidnap him back to his former boss?  Terrorists, avenging the killing of their leader, had tracked him down? Or a jealous husband set on murdering his wife who had fled his beatings and who lay just as uneasily beside him. 
     “Qu'est-ce que c'est?" she asked in a whisper. What is it?  
    He whispered back, "Je ne sais pas." I don't know, and he put a finger to her lips. He listened a moment longer in the absolute stillness of the country night, trying to place the sound. After a moment longer, sure now he had heard something, he patted her warm naked thigh; stay here, his intimate gesture implied. 
He leaped from their bed and tiptoed to the room’s threshold. A dash across the darkened living room, and he stood at one of the two windows that overlooked the dirt drive. He knelt, feeling the cold wooden floor on his knees, and, nudging apart the curtains, peered out. 
Squinting past the crack in the partly opened wooden shutters, he saw nothing except the thick blackness of night. He heard only the same sound that kept him tense, a mechanical rattle. It came from a car, he saw at last, headlights out, its menacing silhouette looming closer to the end of his farmhouse’s drive. He realized they didn’t have time to flee or for him to search for his 32 cal revolver.
     “It’s Robert, I know it is. He’ll kill us both, Pablo.”
     Pablo glanced over his shoulder. “Stay in our bedroom, Gabriella."
     “He's that kind of husband. He’s crazy with jealousy.”
     “Just do as I say, dammit, and lock the door.” Pablo peeked out through the curtains again, ending further discussion. Only one car, not several. Parked about ten feet from the stone steps leading to his front door. Three men in silhouette in the car; a fourth in darkened outline, above average in height, stepping out. Four men in one vehicle, not a convoy bringing a snatch or kill team. More than likely Gabriella’s husband with his armed investigators had somehow found them out.
     The man passed in front of several cypress trees bordering the drive, and Pablo silently cursed losing sight of him. He pressed his ear against the paneled oak wall, straining to hear through the thick wood. "I'll do the front," the man called out to his companions. "You guys check around back. The barn especially. Search everywhere." Or did he say, "Search for that pair?" Pablo pressed his ear hard against the wall. 
"You sure we got the right farmhouse?" an accomplice, younger sounding, asked. "With all these weeds, the place looks pretty abandoned."
"It's not abandoned, trust me. It's exactly where someone wily would hide out." He paused, muttering about the damn cold and the damn mud. In that moment Pablo believed he had heard that soft voice before. Then saw he had forgotten to turn the locks, and his thoughts were on the impending attack.  
     A heavy tread, heel, toe, heel, toe, now inches from the front door. A man not afraid to make his presence known especially with backup. The intruder nudged the front door open, waited a moment as though appraising the darkened inside for any unpleasant surprises before chancing a foot in. In the near darkness Pablo heard something uttered, but the intruder was now fully inside the living room. He threw the man against the oak panel wall. He jerked back his own arm to ram his palm up into the intruder’s chin to snap his neck. 
     The man thrust an arm in front of his face to block the blow. "Hey, stop, wait!  Don’t. It's me for fuck's sake, Stuart."
     A slice of light from the bedroom opposite the living room caught the man’s craggy, lined face and the mass of unkempt brown hair. “Bishop?” Pablo heard a metallic click. He looked sharply over to the bedroom doorway. “No, no, no, don’t shoot. It's not your husband. I know him.”  He released his grip on Stuart’s blazer. “Christ man, why the hell didn’t you call out?” He flicked on the row of brass ceiling lamps to be sure of the man's identity.
     "You must have been too keyed up and not heard me. Get a phone, so I can call next time and avoid getting killed."  He sagged against the wall, a hand over his chest as though to catch his breath, while he closed his eyes.
     "You alright?"
     Stuart, his eyes still closed, managed a slight nod. "Yeah, yeah, sure, don't sweat it.”  
     “You certainly are.”
     “Just give me a minute, will you. You gave me the scare of my life. I’d forgotten how quick you are."  He fluttered his eyes open after a further moment, inhaled deeply before pushing himself upright, and extending a hand in greeting. "There now, back among the living."  He swung back and forth the front door, its undersurface scraping against the wooden floor. “Half the world's major cops and intel boys want Mr. Man-on-the-Run dead or alive, and you leave a door unlocked? You're getting pretty careless in your middle age."  
     “I must have been tired, when I returned from hiking and forgot.”
     "Shame on you, Pablo. With what you've been through, you should know better." Stuart glanced out beyond the front door to the dark and gave a flick of his head. “Guys, I found him. Come on in.”
     Two men in overcoats, one barrel chested and with bulldog jowls, the other sharp faced and hollow cheeked, trotted heavy booted up the steps into the living room, leaving muddy foot prints in their wake. Both had short hair, cut military style. Stuart didn't introduce them; neither did they. They glanced only a minute at the figure in the bedroom doorway before going into a routine, all business. The sharp featured one dropped into a crouch next to curtained windows near the front door, binoculars trained out into the night. His companion stepped heavy footed to the back of the farmhouse, also gripping field glasses.
     Stuart kicked shut the door, turned the three locks, yanked the door knob several times with showy concern for safety.  “I think we have security now. Hopefully anyway. Hell of a way to treat someone, who got your ass out of Vienna.”  An attempted joke, a bit of a smile.
     “I thought you were someone else.”
     “Who, the Germans invading France again?  Pity whoever he is, if he ever shows.” Stuart looked around the living room. “Cozy place you got. Sure beats hiding out in a damp cave by a long shot.”
     “It was till you showed.”
     “Mum’s the word, Pablo. Promise, don't worry. I won’t tell George about your bolt-hole.”
     “Let’s hope so. And I call it a farmhouse.”
     “Fine, a farmhouse. A remote one, too. Once we left Arles, it took ages to find. Exit this autoroute. Take that back road. Follow that Centre Ville sign. Pass that vineyard. You've got a real talent for disappearing.”  
     "Can you blame me?" Stuart Bishop was a CIA bureaucrat with refined tastes, Pablo reminded himself. London theaters. Paris and Milan art museums. The idea of country living seemed foreign. “The provençal isolation helped my dad forget the headache running his hotel.”  He glanced across to the bedroom's doorway and noticed Gabriella still pointed the 32 cal revolver shakily at Stuart. He motioned to lower it. “Ca va." It’s okay.    
     “Who’s the dark haired beauty?” Stuart tugged out a monogrammed white handkerchief from his breast pocket and used it to beat away dust from his jacket and pants.
     “A friend.”
     He glanced with a raised eyebrow at Pablo. “Some friend. A Juliette Binoche look-alike in a negligee.”
     “Her name’s Gabriella, Stuart. Her husband’s a bigwig Paris politician, who's had one too many affairs. She wants out. He threatened to find and kill her, if she gets divorced. She’s leaving anyway. We thought you were him when you showed.”  He had had enough polite small talk. “What's this about for crying out loud?  You got scared?  You have any idea how you scared us?   You know what time it is?"       
     “Something bad's happened in London," Stuart said, ignoring his complaint. "Maurice is dead.”
     Pablo felt a sharp stab of pain in his stomach. “He’s what?”
     “Yeah, I know, it's hard to believe."
     Stuart's face was as grimly serious, he noticed, as his must be hearing the news. "Dead, Jesus, Maurice?"
     "I can't believe it myself, but I heard it briefly on the BBC London news, and that's not the half of it. I’m very sorry. He was a good and honorable man in a sometimes rotten profession. A rarity these days, considering who's running MI5's shop. We've a big problem on our hands....

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A University of Texas graduate, Steve Haberman pursued legal studies at UCLA before embarking on a career as a legal assistant. Profitable stock market investments made travel abroad possible, and he has since visited Europe extensively and frequently, including London, Paris, Prague, Berlin, as well as Milan and Budapest. Many of these feature as settings in his two e-book novels. "Murder Without Pity," a murder mystery with tragic echoes from the past, occurs in Paris. "The Killing Ploy" (with heavy overtones of "fake news" before that was topical) is set partially in several Continental capitals. His two works in progress, "Darkness and Blood," the sequel to "The Killing Ploy," and "Winston Churchill's Renegade Spy" also use foreign locales. He is presently planning another three month trip abroad for research on a fifth thriller, this one set in the post World War II apocalyptic ruin of the German capital.


Website * Twitter * Amazon * Goodreads

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Follow the tour HERE for exclusive excerpts and a giveaway!

June 29
kickoff at Silver Dagger Book Tours
Mythical Books

June 30
3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy, &, Sissy, Too!

July 1
Laurie's Thoughts and Reviews

July 2
A Mama's Corner of the World
Bedazzled By Books

July 3
Readeropolis
Sweet Southern $avings

July 4
A Pinch of Bookdust
Books all things paranormal and romance

July 5
Maiden of the Pages
Midnight Book Reader

July 6
A Modern Day Fairy Tale
Luv Saving Money

July 9
books are love
Inside the Insanity

July 10
Books a Plenty Book Reviews
Bound 2 Escape

July 11
C Exley Books
My Chaotic Ramblings

July 12
Book-Lover
Girl with Pen

July 13
Momma Says: To Read or Not to Read
Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer

July 16
SnoopyDoo's Book Reviews
nanasbookreviews

July 17
Stormy Nights Reviewing & Bloggin'
Sylv.net

July 18
Aconite Cafe
T's Stuff

July 19
Rabid Readers Book Blog
Scrupulous Dreams

July 20
Paranormal Palace of Pleasures
Stacking My Book Shelves!

July 22
Jazzy Book Reviews

July 23
Teatime and Books

July 24
eBook Addicts

July 25
Declarations of a Fangirl

July 26
Twisted Book Ramblings

July 27
All the Ups and Downs
Triple A

July 28
The Pen and Muse Book Reviews

July 29
The Book Dragon


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26 Comments
Joe D.
6/29/2018 10:09:49 am

Definitely my type of book! I really like the cover!

Reply
Steve Haberman link
6/29/2018 10:34:28 am

Joe D.
Thanks for your kind comments. I try to write stories where world events impinge on my characters. I also read stories where that is the theme. Such writers as John Le Carre (The Spy Who Came in from the Cold...excellent book and movie) and Frederick Forsyth (Day of the Jackal...excellent book and movie)

Reply
Calvin
6/29/2018 11:18:35 am

I predict the story involve sacrifice.
Grats on tour steve!
Looks solid.

Reply
Steve Haberman link
6/29/2018 11:32:41 am

Hi Calvin,
Thanks for your feedback! Yes, Darkness and Blood does involve sacrifice since the protagonist sacrifices his peace of mind (hiding out in the south of France) to find out why an old friend mysteriously died.

Reply
James Robert
6/29/2018 11:55:07 am

These tours are great so thank you for all the hard work you all put into bringing them to us. We have picked up some terrific books thanks to all of you bloggers and the authors have some amazing books to read.

Reply
Steve Haberman link
6/29/2018 12:04:21 pm

I'm lucky to have found Maia Gomez. She's been very patient in answering my question on this, my first blog tour.

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Lisa Brown
7/1/2018 09:14:21 am

I enjoyed getting to know your book and thanks for the chance to win :)

Reply
Steve Haberman link
7/1/2018 12:24:21 pm

Lisa,
Thanks for your words on this my first blog tour. And definitely not the last.
Steve

Reply
wendy hutton
7/3/2018 05:15:53 pm

the book sounds interesting good luck with the tour

Reply
Steve Haberman link
7/3/2018 09:29:01 pm

Wendy,
Thanks for taking time from the busy July 4th holiday to drop me a line.
Steve

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Debbie P
7/3/2018 11:25:59 pm

I can't wait to read this book. And I really like the cover.

Reply
Steve Haberman link
7/4/2018 11:55:51 am

Hi Debbie,
I appreciate your feedback. Often you don't know if the cover or story works until you send it out into the public arena. Happy Fourth!
Steve

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Kelly Nicholson
7/6/2018 03:55:59 am

What do you think of the book or the cover? Do you have any questions for the author?

i like a good mystery drama..nice cover

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Denise Higgins
7/10/2018 02:16:29 am

Love the cover

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Patricia Parsons
7/10/2018 03:41:05 pm

A file bomb? I can't wait to read more!

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Steve Haberman link
7/10/2018 03:55:00 pm

Patricia,
It's a file bomb in a manner of speaking. It's what sets the story off, what alarms the protagonist, an ex-CIA agent, and his former case officer.

Reply
Wanda B
7/10/2018 06:22:36 pm

I love thrillers and this cover looks so intriguing.

Reply
Steve Haberman link
7/10/2018 07:53:00 pm

Wanda,
Good to hear from you. You can get some idea of the story by reading the excerpt from Chapter 1 of Darkness and Blood.
Steve

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Mood Reader
7/11/2018 06:44:23 pm

Sounds like an interesting read! :)

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Jessica Whitehouseq
7/11/2018 06:59:30 pm


I don't really put a lot of importance on book cover art. I'm more interested in the blurbs and reviews of the book to decide whether to read the book or not.

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Wendy Jensen
7/15/2018 03:10:49 pm

Excellent book cover.

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Laura
7/25/2018 03:03:03 pm

Sounds REALLY good! Excited to read it.

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Steve Haberman link
7/25/2018 04:53:01 pm

Laura,
Thanks for your kind comments. The fictional account of what happens in Darkness and Blood could very well happen sadly in the real world. In fact, it has already occurred, but on a much smaller scale.

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Daniel M
7/26/2018 08:24:41 pm

really like the cover

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Tiago Rosado
7/28/2018 01:36:13 pm

What do you think of the book or the cover?


to be honest......looks like a terrible Photoshop job....sorry,still the blurb makes it more appealing!!!

Reply
Jerry Marquardt
7/29/2018 04:06:25 pm

What a cover! I would like to give thanks for all your really great writings, including Darkness and Blood. I wish the best in keeping up the good work in the future.

Reply



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