I’m really pleased to take a break from my own blog tour to introduce Jaye Marie and her book The Broken Life. Both Jaye and Anita have been very supportive taking part in both my blog tours, so it’s a real pleasure to return the favour by being their host on the blog tour today.

I  have a very exciting excerpt to share, but first here’s a little about the book.

Book Description of The Broken Life

DI David Snow has a serial killer to catch, a killer as mysterious as the crimes he commits.

Snow is due to retire, but not before he discovers why someone killed his sergeant and is now coming after him.

The killer seems to have a personal vendetta against Snow, but he is determined that no one else should die because of him. His efforts are hampered by the arrival of a new sergeant, ‘ruthless’ Ruth Winton, for she is not what she seems. Alarm bells start to ring when Snow realises she is after more than just his job.

Excerpt from The Broken Life

David Snow knew he was in trouble. No one had come when he used the trigger word, and Ruth Winton had shot him twice. She must be using specialised bolts for they had both penetrated the protective vest he was wearing as if they were made of paper. Luckily, there didn’t seem to be much bleeding, but it hurt like hell.

The other pain in his chest, the one that had chosen this particular day to reappear seemed to be ebbing, leaving him breathless and weaker than he needed to be. He realised he was on his own. Something had gone wrong; the back up he was relying on wouldn’t appear to save the day. He wondered what if anything he could do about it.

Hardly in a position to contemplate doing anything, he thought, smiling on the inside.

He opened his eyes a little, just enough to see where Ruth Winton was and found her standing a few feet away from him. The crossbow was lying on the floor, and she was staring at him, but she didn’t look angry. If anything, she looked sad. So when she started to walk towards him, he wasn’t worried. She knelt down beside him and held his hand. With the other hand, she touched his face. ‘Are you all right, daddy?’ she said, her voice small and childlike.

Realising something else was going on, he said nothing, not wanting to stir the hornet’s nest. It was imperative that Ruth stay where she was now, but even as he thought it, he could sense her mood begin to change. The grip on his hand became tighter, and he could feel the tension vibrating her body. She stood up and walked away from him, picking up the crossbow as she made her way up the stairs.

Snow struggled to sit up, needing to check his phone. It was switched on, but there was no indication it was working. He stabbed at the buttons, unable to believe the trouble a small malfunctioning machine could cause. How long would his back up team wait? Round about now would be good, people, he thought.

Not convinced that help would arrive anytime soon, he wondered what he could do. He wasn’t even sure if he could do anything, skewered front and back as he was. But if he wanted to survive this, he would have to try. He soon discovered that any movement, no matter how slight, caused the pain radiating from both wounds to intensify. This didn’t make him want to stop or give in, just made him more determined than ever to leave this house on his own two feet.

He edged his way up the wall until he was standing upright. Now what? Could he walk? He looked around for something to use as a weapon and took a step towards the kitchen. A quick look in the drawers revealed they were empty. He had to think of something and quick. She would be coming back down to finish him off at any minute. A thought occurred to him. Could he pull out the bolt in his chest somehow? Was it even possible?

He touched the end of the bolt, only to discover it was smooth and slippery, no obvious means of removal. There were small ridges, but not enough to help him. A pair of bright yellow rubber gloves lay on the draining board. Not something that belonged in his kitchen, but a welcome sight. He grabbed one and wrapped it around the bolt, gritted his teeth and pulled. The pain level sharply increased, but he kept on pulling. It didn’t seem to be working. It was beginning to look as though he would die in his own kitchen after all.

Noise from upstairs made him try harder, and this time he thought he felt movement. His head was screaming with the pain, but this only served to increase his determination. Somewhere behind all the pain, he knew it could be a waste of time anyway; he wasn’t likely to get close enough to use it, not with the crossbow in her hand.

He heard footsteps on the landing. She was coming!

With one last effort, the bolt left his chest with a small squelch, and he looked at it in his hand. No more than eight inches long, so small and yet so deadly. He thought of all the people she had killed, of Jim Harris, his best friend and his anger finally flared. He was experiencing all kinds of pain now, and the wound in his chest was bleeding. He didn’t understand how he was still standing. Maybe that would work, he thought. Would she still fire if he were lying down, maybe dying?

The Broken Life is only 99p during the blog tour, so don’t miss out on picking up your copy today.

About the Author

My name is Jaye Marie, the ‘oily rag’ of the partnership http://jenanita01.com/ and usually, I prefer to stay in the background. Since we decided to publish our books ourselves, most of my other interests have had to take a back seat, and as I am not half as clever as I want to be, they may well have to leave the country for a while. Well, some of them can but not all. I am an avid Bonsai fan and have a collection that demands my attention in the growing season, or they will die. (It is a bit like having children) I love books and have read my way through stacks of them, so when my sister needed someone to edit and type up her manuscripts, I was happy to help. Somewhere along the way, I discovered my vocation and my love-hate relationship with the world of computers. But I did learn how to edit and proofread, taking over the job of getting Anita’s books ready for publication. I even had some wonderful compliments from one of the best literary agents in London for my editing of Anita’s first book, Bad Moon, and for the last twenty years since my retirement, that‘s what my life has been like.

Then everyone started talking about ‘Indie’ or self-publishing. I already knew how hard it was to be published in the traditional way, so became very excited at the prospect of being able to do it ourselves. I started our own website and found that I enjoyed talking to people from all over the world and posting our thoughts online. Then I concentrated on publishing Anita’s books. It wasn’t quite as easy as they made it sound, but with my usual stubbornness, I kept at it, learning more and more as I went along.

Somewhere along the way, I started thinking about a story that had been nibbling away in the corner of my mind for months, and before too long, it demanded to be written and then there were two writers in the family!

Links

Website:     http://jenanita01.com

Twitter:     https://twitter.com/jaydawes2/media

Facebook: http://facebook.com/anita.dawes.37

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8638857.Jaye_Marie

Universal Amazon Link for The Broken Life: myBook.to/BrokenLife

Amazon Author Page: Author.to/JayeLink