Tag: Romance (general)

Flash: Gas Station Killer 2 – Station Attendant

Erin Penn

Photo by Jean-Christophe Gougeon on Unsplash

The shadows were all skewed for a good look-see, but the body was clearly posed. Brooke pushed the body, a bit of give, but not much. Rigor mortis makes the body hard to pose after a time. The body seemed to be working toward the full rigor, not away. Stiff fingers, with the lividity at the tips and on her calves and thighs indicated somewhere in the seven-to-nine-hour range in the July heat, at her best experienced guess.

“Have you called the cops yet?” Brooke’s boss asked over the phone.

“Not yet,” she responded. “After the last robbery, you said always call you first, then nine one one, if I wanted to keep my job.” Not that she would obey that directive in an actual emergency, but whoever this woman was, an extra hour wouldn’t make a difference now.

“Don’t be a fucking idiot. Call the cops.” He yelled.

“Well, consider yourself called,” Brooke said, pulling the phone away from her ear and hitting the red button, then dialing 911. After an operator answered, she said, “Yes, I would like to report a dead body. No need to send an ambulance or fire truck. Just the police. The body is cold.” She figured they still might send all the emergency services but may as well try to save the tax payers some money. After giving them the address of the gas station, she moved away from the body, closing the door. The operator assured her police would be arriving shortly. “Of course.” Brooke hung up after assuring the person she was in a safe place.

The cops took nearly two hours to get here after the armed robbery on New Years. Before that, ejecting some druggies from the store was closer to four and only happened because the boss showed up for his shift on Monday and pulled a full Indian man fit, screaming about “My taxpayer dollars this” and “My business impact that.”

Once they got here, the police would be forever with a body.

Setting aside the cleaning equipment, Brooke got into her sedan and moved it to the shopping center next door to get it out of the crime scene range. She wanted to be able to leave work when her shift ended and hoped she moved the car far enough. Hopping the three steps of the concrete and soil between the two paved areas, Brook returned to the bathroom side of the building.

No cops yet.

She moved two piles of empty plastic boxes to the area between the men and women bathrooms, then reopened the men’s bath. Nothing could be done for the women’s side, but morning shift would need at least one working bathroom.

She was rising off her long gloves in the sink after spending time up to her elbows in the toilet unplugging the blockage caused by the vomit when flashing red and blue lights finally arrived.

Stepping outside the mostly cleaned bathroom, she peeled off her gloves, pushed her dark hair back where it had escaped her braid, and pulled out her phone. Just under forty-five minutes. Not bad for this end of town. She nodded to the uniform as he came over.

“Did you call 911?”

“Yes, the body is over here.” She stepped around the plastic barrier which had kept most of the hose water on the right side.

“Don’t touch anything.”

Brooke rolled her eyes. “Look, I opened the door to find the body. I touched her for the no pulse, no breathing check. If you want, you can take my fingerprints, Lord knows half the world has them already.” She opened the woman’s bathroom door to show the body inside.

The officer quickly looked away. The woman had been posed taking a shit. Her pants and underwear hung around her ankles. She had been leaned back against the tank, with her hands resting against her legs, but angled so the cuts across the wrists and the two vertical hacks along the arms aimed all escaping blood into the toilet. Something Brooke appreciated from whomever the killer was.

She didn’t appreciate the body dump, but at least they didn’t leave a mess.

“You okay?” Brooke asked, as the man swallowed. “Please don’t throw up, I just finished cleaning the bathroom.” She touched his arm. “It’s your first time, isn’t it?”

The officer turned his back and walked a couple steps toward his unit, coughing, staring up into the lights, and Brooke followed.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, yes.” The man shook his head. “How can you be so calm about this?”

“I work hospice for my second job,” Brooke shrugged, “I see a lot of dead bodies.”

“Must be nice,” he stuttered when he realized his words. “I mean, not nice, but the…” He ran out of words.

“Got you. It’s okay.” She patted his arm. “It’s never easy, even when it is expected.” How many times had she had to say those words? “Do you need to report this?” Already after three thirty, if she was going to escape at five, things needed to get moving.

“Yeah, yeah.” He blinked. “Um, yeah.” He opened the door to his car and climbed in for the radio.

“If it is not too much trouble, could you turn off the lights?” Brooke raised an arm to shield her eyes while he pulled the mic to his mouth. She really didn’t care one way or the other, but the boss would appreciate them off since they tended to chase off business, which should begin picking up soon for the people who made the donuts and all the early morning fast food up and down restaurant row made their way to work.

He nodded. “Sure.” And leaned forward to click something on his dash.

With the lights off, she returned to the men’s bathroom and pulled on the smaller gloves for the final scrub down.

“I hope you didn’t destroy any evidence.” A deeper, more confident voice spoke behind her while she wound the hose up. A second set of lights had arrived a few seconds ago, but they had been placed on the dash of a compact, instead of mounted on a government vehicle, so the new person likely came from homicide. Probably just tumbled out of bed, but he was here.

At last, things were moving. Brooke turned around and looked up, drawing a sharp breath. Damn, this one was pretty, especially in the rumpled, I didn’t get enough sleep after a Friday Night and the sun isn’t up yet on Saturday kind-of way.

(words 1,093; first published 11/13/2023)

Gas Station Killer Series

  1. Bathroom Break (appears in blog at 2/7/2021)
  2. Station Attendant (appear in blog at 2/14/2021)
  3. It’s a Gas (appear in blog 4/11/2021)

Book Review: A Gentleman of the Old School

Erin Penn

Amazon Cover

A Gentleman of the Old School: A Santore Security Novel (Book 1) by Katie Pressa

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Edie Bayette has it all: looks, money, and loyal friends. A top-notch attorney, she relishes a good legal fight and works pro-bono for a local women’s clinic. But when a one-night stand delivers more than Edie bargained for, she must make a choice: let it wreck her life, or take a huge risk by falling in love for the first time.

Mack Santore served his country with honor and retired to start his own top-notch security service. Celebrities love him because of his intelligence, experience, and discretion. But Mack’s current client—a women’s clinic targeted by terrorists—puts him on edge. Then, the most beautiful woman he has ever seen walks in. And he can barely breathe.

When Edie catches Mack staring, her whole body thrills with a dangerous desire. But despite their attraction, how can a relationship ever work? Mack swears by love and commitment, two things Edie only knows about from the dictionary.

Can Mack and Edie overcome the odds? Will they even have a chance to try?

MY REVIEW

Wow, that is one of the best romance stories I have read in a long, long time. 

Strong characters – woman and male are true equals and the best at their jobs. Their jobs were important to the story. Background characters were amazing, friendships real, action solid. Well-developed backstories and reveals. Thriller subplot kept everything going.

Plot line of romance. Plot line of personal growth for each of the main characters. Plot line of thriller. Plot line introducing characters for other books in series – so subtle you don’t even notice it. 

Perfect example of how lawyers act. Perfect examples of how security firms act. Yes, the story had politically touchy subjects: family care clinics, poor sections of town being treated worse, blacks being questioned harder than whites, … But these are characters seeing it from their side of the world. Right or wrong, these are how people in these situation see these things.

Everything mixed well. You want to know how it is done. Ms. Pressa brought it all to the table.

Flash: The Rain Never Stopped

Erin Penn

Photo 193338178 © Andrey Nasonov | Dreamstime.com

The rain never stopped. Poseidon was a hell-hole planet, whose unique flora had thousands of pharmaceutical applications. All one had to do was tolerate the climate.

Depression and rotting skin were just a couple things mentioned by the recruiter; he wouldn’t get paid if the recruit cuts out before the year is out. Atesh signed up anyway because of the pay. Four months later, he was cursing his choice as he waited for the next group of recruits to arrive. Yes, his bank account was ten times fatter than it had ever been. But he would spend it all on a pair of dry socks.

After two months of harvesting, one can move into any other open position. Based on his skill set, or lack thereof, Atesh got Greeter. He welcomed new people, set up their rooms, and showed them the ropes. Only half his day was spent in the rain now; the rest of the time was in environmentally “controlled” facilities unable to keep up with the humidity. Hell, it rained in his room when the temperature dropped in the evening.

Three people shakily disembarked from the drop crate. Immediately the construction crew started moving it to the second cafeteria site. Two more crates, expected tomorrow, will provide enough material to seal the backup food area.

“Fucking wet slop.” The cultured voice was at odds with the surrounding environment, and the second-rate garments all new recruits were provided hung differently on the tall, young male.

Atesh suppressed his immediate interest in the new arrival. Rules said four days before newcomers could be integrated into the social activities, and it was his job to enforce the regulation. He smiled at the group and gestured to a small container half-buried under the vegetation which had grown since this morning’s pruning. All of them made haste to the stand-alone shelter, likely thinking being out of the rain would get them out of the wet too.

(words 323; first published 12/14/2020)

Editing Rant: Touch / Tingle

Erin Penn

Image courtesy of farconville at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Okay, this one isn’t from editing a book, but reading one for pleasure that ending up not being so pleasurable because better editing was needed. I now have a new term – “touch/tingle”.

The story lacked feelings, but not the emotions kind. If something involves a person reacting to a physical/chemical reaction (say a lover), remember to have the close point-of-view (POV) character relate the touch/tingle effects to the reader. Show, don’t tell – although what I read, this writer didn’t even bother with the tell.

While the choreography was related in the story – who was where, doing what – internal motivations and reactions were not shared. The story read little better than a person standing in one place with a camera phone.

If this had been a movie or television shoot, there would have been closeups on the hands, the lips, maybe a leg movement, -> switching between camera viewpoints, etc to bring the viewer into the scene. In the written medium, without touch/tingle, the sex scene was completely boring and needed to be skipped.

This is not the reaction you want your reader to have in a romance. Just saying.

(Camera watching the action) They laid down together on the bed. He moved over her, and she made room for him. A gunshot had them both rolling off the bed into a pile of arms and legs and covers. The blood on the fabric told the tale of one of them being hit.

(Camera living the action) She watched as he crossed the room with purpose, and her breath caught. Even after forty years she still loved the old geezer. She made room for him, ignoring the pain in her hip as she anticipated the coming pleasure. When the gunshot sent them both rolling off the bed into a pile of arms and legs and suddenly wet sheets, the first thing she did was check to see if the wetness came from either of them and what part of them. She caught her breath again as she saw the brilliant red of the liquid.

Do the second, not the first. Please! Bring the camera in close during fights and sex.

Book Review: Series – Central Galactic Concordance (1-3)

Erin Penn

Book Cover from Amazon

Overload Flux (Central Galactic Concordance #1) by Carol Van Natta
Minder Rising (Central Galactic Concordance #2) by Carol Van Natta
Zero Flux (Central Galactic Concordance #2.5) by Carol Van Natta
Pico’s Crush (Central Galactic Concordance #3) by Carol Van Natta

SERIES REVIEW

A rousing combination of science fiction space opera and romance, Central Galactic Concordance has a bit of everything without burying the flavors. In addition, many of the characters have diverse racial and ethnic traits, something Ms. Van Natta strives for. This series is a hidden gem, and should especially appeal to fans of Sharon Lee and Steve Millers Liaden Universe. Each of the books within the series works well as a stand-alone.

 

Book Cover from Amazon

Overload Flux (Central Galactic Concordance #1) by Carol Van Natta

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Two loners fighting to stay alive discover they must now save the galaxy.
The only vaccine for a deadly galaxy-wide pandemic is missing … and the only ones who may be able to find it are a powerful talent on the verge of a meltdown, and a security specialist hiding her extraordinary skills in a menial job.

Brilliant investigator Luka Foxe must act fast if he’s going to save the civilized planets of the Central Galactic Concordance. For as a pandemic sweeps across the galaxy, someone is stealing the vaccine. To make matters worse, Luka’s hidden mental talents are out of control, leaving him barely able to function in the midst of violence and a rising body count. The convoluted trail leads to a corrupt pharma industry and the possibility of an illegal, planet-sized laboratory. In the face of increasing threats, he must rely on an enigmatic, lethal woman who has secrets of her own.

Mairwen Morganthur hides extraordinary skills under the guise of a dull night-shift guard. The last thing she wants is to provide personal security for a nova-hot investigator, or to be plunged into a murky case involving sabotage, treachery, and the military covert operations division that would love to discover she’s still alive. Worse, she knows that two more deaths won’t bother their enemies one bit. Their only hope for survival is to share their darkest secrets. With everything in their universe at stake, can they learn to trust one another?

 

MY REVIEW

A Science Fiction Romance combined with Police Procedural, and the first book of the ongoing Central Galactic Concordance series made up of stand-alone stories, some concentrating on romance and some concentrating on the police procedural. The series is at four manuscripts at this time of this review and growing – three novels and one novella.

The books has a solid mix of the typical well-loved tropes of Sci-Fi and Romance. Two damaged people not looking for love but finding love which may heal them. Bonus – The love interest couple never had a moment of “should I share my feelings” angst or a moment of staged arguing to keep them apart – the circumstances of the book provide enough barriers the author does not go with the very annoying brainless high-school angst in full grown adults. This is not an instant love romance but a slow discovery with the investigation into a murder taking the primary stage. In addition, both of the adults are intelligent but have different forms of intelligence to support each other in the Police Procedural part of the story.

Other tropes include one of the romantic leads having military background, an interstellar conspiracy which will continue to unfold as the series continues, and one of my favorite tropes of psychic powers (with unique worldbuilding in how this universe deals with and uses those blessed/cursed with the powers). About halfway through the book, another beautiful sci-fi trope is added with a trip in a space ship – both the combination of the long boring travel between the stars where the romance has a chance to grow further and then the flaming reentry to the next portion of the dangerous investigation into murders on the new planet.

Ms. Van Natta has taken a lot of the typical stuff we all love about science fiction, romance, and murder mysteries, and blended it well to create a new universe for what is a promising series based on the debut novel.

 

Book Cover from Amazon

Minder Rising (Central Galactic Concordance #2) by Carol Van Natta

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A covert agent asked to train a prodigy telepath discovers he must first keep the boy and his mother alive in a gleaming city full of danger.

An injured agent on the galactic capital planet must evade whoever is killing off his covert interrogations unit and make an impossible choice–save his own skin, or save an innocent woman and her prodigy son. Can he discover who is subverting the mission of the Citizen Protection Service, before they fulfill their dark plans?

A millennium into the future, the Citizen Protection Service tests all children for minder talents, and recruits the best. Injured agent Lièrén Sòng is recovering from a near-fatal crash in Spires, the gleaming capital city of the galaxy. He should be preparing to return to interrogating criminals for the Citizen Protection Service, but he’s made unexpected friends with a woman and her son. The boy has strong telepathic talents similar to Lièrén’s, and his attractive mother makes Lièrén long for the stability of family.

Imara Sesay works hard as a road crew chief in Spires and part-time bartender to provide for her son Derrit. For him, she even breaks her ironclad rule never to get close to a customer, when she trusts Lièrén to teach her son how to control his growing telepathic talents.

However, new fatalities in his covert unit make Lièrén suspect he isn’t a lucky survivor, he’s a loose end. He should pull away from Imara and Derrit to keep them safe. But when the local CPS Testing Center shows a more than usual interest in the boy, Lièrén must make an impossible choice–protect the boy, or run for his own life. Can he stay alive long enough to save Imara and her prodigy son?

 

MY REVIEW

A science fiction romance with political thriller mix in. The romance takes time to develop (no Instalove here) – the hero is recovering from a major injury and is staying at a hotel until he recovers enough for his next assignment, and the heroine does not do transients for love interests because of her son. It takes forever for their first kiss, but the wait of this sweet romance is worth it.

While waiting for the romance to develop, the political thriller sci-fi plot holds center stage. The second book of the Central Galactic Concordance, Minder Rising works great as a stand-alone. With very little overlap with the first book, Overload Flux, the story introduces an entirely new group of characters giving a reader a new place to stand while looking at the political issues within the Concordance universe.

I really love and identify with the hero Lieren because of his naivety and trust. He believes the best about the universe and it has bit him. I hope we see more of him as he recovers from having the blinders removed from his eyes. He is a hero worth meeting.

And the heroine is awesome as a single mother working two jobs – one at a hotel bar and the second as a construction gang leader. The description of the see-through walkways and roads for the crystal capital city (tourist attraction) which she works on as part of the road construction crew set this firmly in the sci-fi area while also grounding the fantastic with a dose of reality.

Diversification – Hero is Asian descent and Heroine is African descent (sci-fi situation).

 

Book Cover from Amazon

Zero Flux (Central Galactic Concordance #2.5) by Carol Van Natta

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A couple investigating murder on a cold planet discovers their first challenge is staying alive. Forensic investigator Luka Foxe has begun a new life with Mairwen Morganthur (Overload Flux), and left his troubled past far behind. Only a plea from his old friend and mentor can lure him back to investigate a violent crime scene frozen in an ice cave. Unfortunately, Luka’s old friend knows far more than he’s telling, which could get them all killed, even with security specialist Mairwen on their side.

An unexpected ice fall reveals a hidden lab buried deep in a mountain and the find of a lifetime. Now someone is trying to make sure those secrets stay frozen in time, even if it means more deaths …

Hang on for a space opera murder mystery in the far reaches of deep space.

 

MY REVIEW

The novelette, Zero Flux, from the Central Galactic Concordance series revisits the characters introduced in Overload Flux. I think the novelette works as a stand-alone, but since I read this book the day after I finished Overload Flux I can’t really judge.

A science fiction police procedural with some action-adventure on the side and a breath of romance (our main characters are still deeply in love).

This time the murder mystery centers around a cold case – literally and figuratively – the murder happened over 20 years ago and has been frozen in-situ thanks to the ice planet. Several red herrings keep the reader guessing as the story unfolds, combine nicely with the danger of working in the ice and snow. Winter doesn’t like its frozen vignette being investigated and dumps several additional challenges on our hero and heroine; the cold is only the beginning.

Ms. Van Natta is doing a good job of slowly introducing readers to the Concordance universe; the worldbuilding is getting better each manuscript.

 

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Pico’s Crush (Central Galactic Concordance #3) by Carol Van Natta

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Trouble comes to paradise when a serial killer chooses a galaxy-famous college campus for his hunting ground. A galactic security specialist expects a quiet vacation visit to his daughter’s college campus. Instead he finds himself in battling for the safety of the students, with old friends and an ex-military squad-mate fighting at his side. Can they find a cunning serial killer before he finds his next target?

When ex-military sniper and current personal security specialist Jerzi Adams visits his daughter Pico’s quiet college on the paradise-like planet of Nila Marbela, he doesn’t expect emergency evacuations and rogue robots. Nor does he expect to renew a friendship with former squad-mate.

Explosions, sabotage, and assaults used to be Andra De Luna’s daily routine, but she gave it up for a professorship at a prestigious university. Now she’s flung back into that world, with an entire floating campus of students to protect.

When the hunt for a cunning serial killer leads Jerzi’s old friends Luka and Mairwen (Overload Flux) to town, there’s trouble in paradise as the body count starts to rise. Either the world of academia has gone from merely cutthroat to downright deadly, or more sinister forces are in conflict, with the campus as a battleground. Without an improvised miracle or two, no one’s going to make it out alive.

 

MY REVIEW

The third novel (with a side trip of a novellette as 2.5) in the Central Galactic Concordance has two romances – one older couple and one younger couple, plus both couples from the previous novels of the series. While this book could work as a standalone, I found the multiple story threads hard enough to follow knowing the complete background.

I think Ms. Van Natta bit off a little more than her present authorship skill set allowed her to work. The battle scene focuses in on each of our various characters at least once – so the battle jumps around between the seven main characters plus one of the villains. Also several minor characters are tracked, though their POV is not used. A very ambitious attempt by Ms. Natta and comes just shy of actually pulling it off seamlessly – the seam definitely shows on this one. It’s still worth buying the story even with the clunky – because she keeps the battle action constantly moving.

On the plus side, the series has had four couples and I love the fact all of the characters are different people. Even with the massive battle scene, each character’s strength and weaknesses are used. Ms. Van Natta uses each character well. Even better, some of the couples have the female be the strong, military member of the couple with the male being the thinker, and other couples have the male being the protector and the woman being the brain. And for every romance in the Concordance Universe, even with the psychic powers, we get to see the romance develop – no Instalove.

Oh and I *love* the practical engineering class and the related projects … plus the real world applications during the battle. This added bit perfectly brings the science fiction to the fantastic forefront while simultaneously grounds the story in reality.

I look forward to reading more of Ms. Van Natta’s Concordance Universe. Each book has been a different emphasis, a different romance, and another slow reveal of the worldbuilding in the Universe.