FEATURED AUTHOR: GERRY SCHMITT

ABOUT THE BOOK

The brutal murder of a business tycoon leaves Afton Tangler and the Twin Cities reeling, but that’s just the beginning of a gruesome crime spree . . .

Leland Odin made his fortune launching a home shopping network, but his millions can’t save his life. On the list for a transplant, the ailing businessman sees all hope lost when the helicopter carrying his donor heart is shot out of the sky.

Now with two pilots dead and dozens injured, Afton Tangler, family liaison officer for the Minneapolis Police Department, is drawn into the case. As she and her partner investigate family members and business associates, whoever wants Leland dead strikes again—and succeeds—in a brazen hospital room attack.

The supposedly squeaky clean millionaire has crossed the wrong person—and she’s not finished exacting her revenge. The case explodes into an international conspiracy of unbridled greed and violence. And as Afton gets closer to unearthing the mastermind behind it, she gets closer to becoming collateral damage . . .

LOVE OR HATE INTERVIEW WITH GERRY SCHMITT

Things I need in order to write:
Absolute quiet, Diet Coke, and a computer.
Things that hamper my writing:
Noise, burping up Diet Coke, junk e-mail.

Things I love about writing:
It’s fun, pays the bills, and is a wonderful creative outlet.
Things I hate about writing:
Dreaming up new ways to kill people! I worry that the FBI is following my search history.

Hardest thing about being a writer:
Working all by myself. When I owned my ad agency I was surrounded by a wonderful creative team.
Easiest thing about being a writer:
Don’t have to get all gussied up and put on makeup to go to work. Now I just roll out of bed and start typing.

Things I never want to run out of:
Anything chocolate. When the craving hits, I gotta have it!
Things I wish I’d never bought:
Bottle of Vampire Wine. It sounded so intriguing but tasted terrible! It was probably aged in Transylvania for all of 3 days.

Favorite foods:
Sushi, lobster, and steak tartare.
Foods that make me want to throw up:
Lima beans and any kind of weight loss product.

Favorite music:
Anything by the Rolling Stones.
Something that gives me a pickle face:
Bad advertising jingles that leave you with an “earworm.”

Things I always put into my books:
Lots of action, a great storyline, and a huge twist at the end that you won’t see coming.
Things I never put into my books:
Cutsie stuff like dogs named Mopsy or grandmas name Mawmaw.

Favorite places I’ve been:
Bali, Paris, and Kyoto, Japan.
Places I’d never want to go again:
I’d never want to visit Stonehenge again because now it’s surrounded by acres of tall fences. Before it was just out there by itself on the windswept Salisbury Plain.

Favorite Books:
Thrillers by John Sandford, Michael Connelly, and Lee Childs.
Books I would ban:
No banned books, this isn’t North Korea. (Thank goodness!)

Most daring thing I’ve ever done:
Started my own advertising agency with three hundred bucks, then built it to include 25 people and 20 major clients (3 were Fortune 500 companies).
Something I chickened out from doing:
Skydiving. People weren’t meant to fly–or crash-land either.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gerry Schmitt is the author of the just-released novel Shadow Girl, the second book in her Afton Tangler Thriller series. Under the pen name Laura Childs, she is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Tea Shop Mysteries, Scrapbooking Mysteries, and Cackleberry Club Mysteries. In Gerry’s previous life she was CEO of her own marketing firm, authored several screenplays, and produced a reality TV show.


Connect with Gerry:
Website  |  Facebook


Buy the book:
Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble 

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