Chosen - my suspense novel finally available

[barbara elsborg]

It feels like a long time since I started writing this story but at last .....


Chosen

Some crimes can never be forgotten
 

Kate Evans doesn’t take risks. She chose her apartment with care—a safe district with a good neighbor—a place where she can live a quiet, unassuming, under-the-radar existence. Then she makes one mistake and opens her door to accept a delivery of flowers from a secret admirer and her life will never be the same again. A guy she’s never seen before bursts into her apartment and asks her to marry him. Jack Thompson won’t take no for an answer and drags Kate on a cross country journey to hell.
 
Invalided out of the police, Nathan Beranson works as a private investigator in San Antonio, Texas where he spends too much of his time following unfaithful spouses and delivering the bad news to their partners. When his fiancée cheats on him with Jack Thompson, the half-brother Nathan’s only just met, he becomes obsessed with Jack in the same unhealthy way as his revenge-seeking clients. By the time Nathan finally realizes putting the ghosts of the past to rest is a wiser option than settling an old score, it’s too late. He’s already been drawn into his sibling’s latest deadly game and Nathan and Kate find their nightmare is only just beginning.
 

[David M. Baum]

Sounds interesting. Nice cover.

[barbara elsborg]

Thanks, David!

[Skate]

That looks very different to the other books I've seen by you. Interesting! I'll have to check it out.

[Ann in Arlington]

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[barbara elsborg]

Thanks, Skate. it IS very different to everything else I've written! Well, apart from the one in the closet never to see the light of day, the one next to it that might see daylight one day and the one still on my laptop that needs a tweak and then I can show it to the sun!

[Pearson Moore]

Anyone who enjoys a good suspenseful tale will love Chosen.  I was fortunate to have been one of the first people to read it several years ago, and I'm so glad Barbara decided to publish it.  This novel has such an amazing feel of gritty authenticity.  It's become my favourite suspense novel, and I'm pretty hard to please when it comes to that genre.  The characters are so well drawn, and the atmosphere is thick.  It's great stuff!

[barbara elsborg]

Thanks so much, Pearson. This is a dark book. I've already upset one of my readers who likes my lighter work! Warning - if you dislike reading about violent manipulative behaviour - don't read my book. But if you like characters who stand up for themselves and fight back - I think you'll like Chosen!

[barbara elsborg]

Well, I've upset two of my readers now. Sorry guys. Chosen is NOT sweet. It has a psychotic killer as one of its main characters. There is violence. There is rape - though after the first I don't go into graphic details. There is mystery. There is bravery and there is some humor. I seem to have written a book that people either love or hate! Fortunately more love it than hate it at the moment.
Big lesson learned - use pen name for different genre!

[Skate]

Yes, it is a dark story and I have to admit that it's not the sort of novel I would normally read, but there is no getting past the fact that it is still very well written and painfully compelling. I'd probably not recommend it to your normal readers, but to those who love suspense and aren't too squeamish, it's a definite must-buy.

[barbara elsborg]

Thanks, Katie! I've had a few messages from people saying they stayed up until the early hours to finish it. I think I scared them. Oops!!

[barbara elsborg]

I had my first review for Chosen from Night Owl Reviews and it's a good one!

Score: 4.50 / 5 - Reviewer Top Pick

 Review:
 Right from the first this book held me in its thrall.  Kate Evans is kidnapped, raped and tortured by a madman who uses her as a sort of game piece in a battle against his domineering father. The pieces finally come together into a complete mosaic that reveals the surprising intricacies of long-remembered, never-forgotten hurts and hatreds.
This book is written in a style and with a voice that is unrelenting in its intensity. The author cleverly weaves in past events and episodes, in small chunks, that ensure each character became pinned onto the storyboard in my head and stayed there. Well-written, fast-paced, and genuinely terrifying, with unexpected twists that are guaranteed to make your heart race, this is not a story for the faint of heart.  In most cases, I thought Kate did an outstanding job of trying to escape and survive her nightmare, but there were a couple of times I almost felt like reaching into my kindle and shaking her. An unconscious man becomes even less of a threat if you tie him up (duh!), for instance!
The author excelled at continuously ratcheting up the tension until finally, at the end, I could suck in a luxurious deep breath and heave a contented sigh. This is a not-to-be-missed thrilling romantic suspense.

[barbara elsborg]

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/63970

Chosen is half price today!!! If you like 'women in peril' stories - I think you'd like this!

[barbara elsborg]

Too late now but I'd have been better picking something more unusual for the title of my suspense novel. A search on Amazon shows lots with that word in the title and my book languishing way down the list. Luckily my name is very unusual so provided people spell it right, they should get the link to me.

Anyone else regret the title they chose?

[Skate]

I'm regretting both my titles. 'Treespeaker' is a character in a computer game and 'The Dragon Box' is a set of DVDs for Dragon Ball Z! So whenever I Google either, they're lost in all the hype for those!

[David M. Baum]

I read Chosen during my vacation and it was a great read. I will write a review soon, I promise.

[barbara elsborg]

Thanks, David!!
Trouble is Katie, it's so difficult to come up with something meaningful and catchy that works and hasn't been taken before!

[Linda S. Prather Author]

Sounds fascinating, Barbara, and I love your covers.

Linda

[barbara elsborg]

Thank you, Linda. I have some great covers - BUT I also have ones I hate!

[barbara elsborg]

There are nine free copies of Chosen available if you leave a comment on my friend's blog!
http://spacefreighters.blogspot.com/2012/02/have-we-found-another-earth.html