I was honored to have received the Crime Thriller Book of the Year for Blaze In, Blaze Out from BestThrillers in 2022. In this book, I tried to keep a narrow lane focusing mostly on the cops and their personal lives as much as I did on their professional lives. Of course, I still had a coming-of-age thread entwined within the story, but for the most part, that took a backseat to the cops.
Eiselmann, O’Connor and Graff have been consistent characters in my books going back to Stolen Lives, Book One of the Lives Trilogy. That’s where they were first introduced. They weren’t the central characters in that book, but they still played a central part, and have since become three of my readers’ favorite characters.
O’Connor and Eiselmann are a ‘Mutt and Jeff’ duo. O’Connor being tall and lanky with long brown hair, while Eiselmann is short and stocky, built like a fire hydrant, with dark red hair and with freckles everywhere. When O’Connor goes under cover, Eiselmann is his control. Eiselmann also serves as the chief techy of the department, having been trained by the FBI.
Eiselmann is also newly married and he and his wife, Sarah have a blended family. Sarah was separated from her first husband, who died during the ‘summer of hell’ as the cops and the Evans family calls it, leaving her with two children, Stephen and Alexandria. When Eiselmann married Sarah, he adopted both children. And up until this particular scene, all had been going well. The family was happy and healthy.
The story behind Blaze In, Blaze Out is that O’Connor and Eiselmann testified and put the head of a crime family in prison. They thought the guilty verdict was the end, but it was only the beginning. The crime lord through intermediaries hired two individuals to kill O’Connor and Eiselmann and everyone in their way in an act of revenge.
The scene I’m about to present to you is the aftermath of an intended hit on Eiselmann and his wife. While they were saved, another cop, acting as a decoy, ended up in intensive care and on life support.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
Sarah and Paul spoke to each other in short, clipped sentences. More unsaid than said. She couldn’t help being angry. If the two of them had been in their car instead of Albrecht and Beranger, Paul would be in the hospital bed fighting for his life instead of Tom, and she’d be there holding his hand instead of Brooke. Worse, if Stephen and Alexandra were home and if that shooter had gotten into their house and did something to them, she couldn’t finish the thought.
“Jennifer and Mark offered to come pick me up and bring me to their house. At first, I declined. I decided to take them up on their offer. I’m spending the night there. I’ll see you sometime in the morning. I’m not sure when. I’ll pick up Stephen and Alex.”
“I understand,” Paul said meekly.
“The hell you do!” she shouted. She regained her calm and said, “You don’t understand. She waited outside our house. If Stephen and Alex were home . . .” She closed her eyes and shook her head, and said, “So please, don’t give me any crap that you understand. You don’t!”
“I … ” he caught himself and shut his mouth, not wanting to repeat it.
She was right. He didn’t understand. He was a cop for so long and a bachelor for even longer that he didn’t understand the role of husband, much less the role of being a dad. He tried. He loved her and he loved the kids. He wouldn’t hesitate to give his life for them. But Sarah was right. He didn’t understand.
He ignored his cell vibrating in his back pocket. He was pretty sure Sarah had heard it.
“Are you going to the hospital?” Sarah asked.
“Eventually. I’m waiting for ballistics on her gun, and the forensic work on her cell and laptop.”
She frowned at him and said, “You usually do that,” Sarah said.
“Usually, but I can’t be directly involved this time.” He didn’t want to elaborate because that would be like poking the not so invisible beast that sat between them.
She nodded at him and said, “Is that what that phone call is?”
He tried to shrug it off, but couldn’t hide his anxiousness. “Or an update on Tom.”
“Better answer it,” she said as she walked past him out of the kitchen.
—
For your convenience, I’ve included a link for purchase, the book synopsis, and some reviews. I hope you check it out. You can find Blaze In, Blaze Out and all my books on my website at https://www.jrlewisauthor.com
I would love to hear your thoughts, so please use the comment section below. As always, thank you for following along on my writing journey. Until next time …
Blaze In, Blaze Out
Action Thriller of the Year -BestThrillers Book Awards
Working with a joint multi-law enforcement task force, Detective Pat O’Connor infiltrated a Ukrainian crime family headed by Dmitry Andruko. O’Connor and his control, Detective Paul Eiselmann were the linchpins in the guilty verdict.
The two detectives thought it was over.
Eiselmann planned for a quiet weekend with his family at home. O’Connor planned on attending a high school soccer game and then head to Northern Wisconsin for a fishing trip with another cop, Detective Jamie Graff and four teenage, adopted brothers: George Tokay, Brian Evans, Brett McGovern, and Michael Two Feathers.
But Andruko is ruthless and vindictive. From his prison cell, he hires two contract killers to kill both O’Connor and Eiselmann and anyone else in the way. The killers can be anyone. The killers could be anywhere, and the killers could strike at any time.
The quiet weekend and the short vacation turn into a deadly nightmare as O’Connor’s and Eiselmann’s lives and the lives of the four boys are in peril.
2022 BestThrillers.com Awards – Best Action Thriller
Readers’ Favorite Honorable Mention – Fiction – Crime
Author Shout Recommended Read
Literary Titan – Gold Book Award Winner
“Blaze In, Blaze Out is an over-the-top thriller. Lewis jumps you seamlessly between timelines of one exhilarating roller-coaster ride to the next.” -Authors Reading
“Blaze in, Blaze Out with its engaging plot and deep themes is a riveting novel and fast read that will keep readers in suspense and hooked till the last page.” -Literary Titan
“A story that is so much more than you expect with well-drawn characters that keep you turning the pages.” -Beyond the Books
“This book was not what I expected. I thought it would be about a mobster and hired assassins. It was, but it was also about so much more.” -Charlie Bees Books
“Blaze In, Blaze Out is a crime thriller that captures a reader’s attention right from the start. Author Joseph Lewis is a strong storyteller, using characters from his previous novels and once again putting them in danger.” -Joan Livingston, author of the Isabel Long Mystery Series
“Joseph Lewis uses carefully constructed settings and intriguing characters to create this unique and captivating action-packed thriller.” -Sublime Book Review
“A superb crime drama simmering with suspense and deep character studies en route to an explosive finale.” –BestThrillers.com
Available in Kindle and Paperback, and Audio!
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