Memoirs of a Death Row Inmate - Book Tour and Giveaway

​When you stare into the face of evil, don't flinch.

Memoirs of a Death Row Inmate
by Daniel Donovan
Genre: Psychological Thriller 

James Bryant is a relatively unknown detective with an otherwise average career. But for one detail: he caught a notorious serial killer from the Midwest. A psychopath, dubbed the South Side Sadist, Richard Allen Fenton, is locked up in the El Dorado Correctional Facility, awaiting his execution on Christmas day. Though a relatively unknown serial killer, Fenton is a master of manipulation whose killing spree lasted over three decades, spanned five states, and claimed eleven victims...so far. Although the two have not been in the same room since the final appeal, Fenton has one more game to play. Striking a deal with the Department of Justice, Fenton agrees to reveal the identities and locations of his other victims. He asks for only one thing in return; to have the cop who put him away take down a series of confessions, find the bodies, and write all of Fenton's misdeeds into a three-volume set to be published for the world to see.

Bryant, a functioning alcoholic battling his own demons, is offered a choice; take the deal or hand in his badge. Against his will and at the detriment of his ever-degrading mental health, Bryant agrees. Backed by a task force with the FBI, Bryant is forced into weekly meetings at the Correctional Facility with Fenton, who torments Bryant at every turn. While Bryant thinks he is just "serving his time," Fenton has other ends in mind. In their regularly scheduled meetings in the prison, Fenton tortures Bryant with the horrifying details of his murderous career, while an unhinged disciple of Fenton's seeks to wreak havoc on the task force on the outside. In prison or out, Bryant fights to stay one step ahead of the killers as they seek to destroy his life and that of everyone around him.


**On Sale for October - Get 20% off the Paperback listed at 19.99 & 40% off the ebook listed at 7.99!**
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​Twenty minutes; that’s how long it took to get from the front door, through security and down to maximum lock-up. They had a special interview room set up for me to use. I was glad they did, because I didn’t want to walk down the hall past Dennis Rader, the Carr brothers, and a long line of other sick individuals just to talk with the sickest of them all. The hallway leading to the room was even more depressing than the entryway. It was meant to contain hardened criminals who were so fucked up they kept the lights as dim as possible to hide the glow of insanity radiating from their eyes. This was no place for any decent human being to spend their time. The lights only got dimmer the further I walked down the hallway. The lights flickered, creating an ominous atmosphere punctuated only by the soft voices of the incarcerated, carrying from their various cells. Ahead of me, a three inch thick metal door complete with a six by six inch impenetrable glass window at head height waited for me. My heart started racing, and my throat tightened. 
I could see, through the small shatterproof glass window leading into the interview room that the source of my pain was waiting for me inside. A chill ran down my spine as the electronic lock popped allowing the door to slide open. The man chained to the table didn’t turn to acknowledge me as I stepped into the room. 
“I’ll be right outside in case he tries anything,” the guard cautioned. I nodded to him and stepped along the left wall. I circled the room until I was on the opposite side of the table from the man in the brown prison jumpsuit. I leaned back against the wall and set the briefcase down beside me.  
I finally raised my eyes to meet those of my cell-mate. Behind black and gray, bushy eyebrows shone the dark brown eyes of malice, radiating from the face of pure evil. The large figure was partially hidden by long, unkempt salt and pepper hair, hanging along either side of his face and obscuring his hulking shoulders. The face, if clean shaven, would have caused most people to flinch and look away; the beard, fortunately, hid some of the menacing lines of his permanent smirk. He sat with his hands cuffed together and the handcuff chains ran through a ring on the table, keeping his hands together. He laced his fingers from one hand through the fingers of the other and stared as if he was contemplating his next ten moves. 

Daniel Donovan was born in Missouri and raised in Kansas for most of his life. He always had a passion
for creative writing, but it wasn’t until he spent four years in law enforcement that the spark for crime
thrillers was really ignited. Donovan aims to bring his readers into the novel by incorporating real-life
details into his works of fiction while giving readers the thrills and chills they seek.


Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram * Amazon * Goodreads

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Can you, for those who don’t know you already, tell something about yourself and how you became an author?
I started writing short stories in the 4th grade and discovered I loved reading them to people and getting their honest reactions to relatable stories or characters. I wrote a short series of mystery stories as an “ode to the Hardy Boys” which featured me and my brother as the title characters and classmates as the victims or villains. I would do my best to capture the personalities of my classmates in the writing in order to illicit the most enthusiasm from each of them as I read the story to the class. This joy of writing continued through middle school where I was encouraged to submit one of my stories to a statewide competition. My story was selected and featured as the first in the collection of stories and poems submitted by other middle school students. From that point on I wanted to find a way to be a published writer.
A few miserable weeks after dropping out of college and moving back in with my parents, my cousin Steven encouraged me to start writing. All I had at the time was an idea and a few pages detailing a single scene scribbled into an old notebook some months prior. Steven had no idea if I would be a good writer or not, but his encouragement got me started on my first story.
That first story would not go on to be a best seller. While the feedback from family and friends was mixed, the ultimate conclusion identified it as “a good story, poorly told.” It took a while to bounce back from that, but I still had new story ideas bouncing around in my head. Years went by; I got married, lost my job of six years, and decided I wanted to pursue a career in law enforcement. Seven months later I was sworn in as a police officer and off to the police academy. That first year wading into my new career, I became obsessed with the mind, motivations, mentalities, and patterns of criminals. I wondered, “What would it be like to sit down and interview a serial killer?” and “Do people still believe in the concept of ‘true evil’ or are criminals just misunderstood victims of their own circumstances?”
I realized through those early months that it can be both. Some people make bad decisions and some people are evil. That made my goal easy, create an antagonist so twisted and evil, everyone could agree they were evil. I had one other goal in my writing this time; write the unfiltered version of whatever came out. I had obtained the nasty tendency to censor myself in the interest of not offending anyone and ensuring no one would think less of me as a result of my writing. What followed would be an honest, behind the scenes look into the thought process and motivations of not only the law enforcement officers involved, but the serial killer who was so evil he not only committed atrocities, he wanted to ensure he received credit for each of his misdeeds.
From that mentality sprang my first novel, Memoirs of a Death Row Inmate. A brutal, gruesome, graphic and offensive story of true evil, and the good people who have to stand up and fight back to ensure evil doesn’t destroy the world around them.

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