Today's Winning
Query Letter is from Anna
Simpson. Check it out: Winning Query Letter / White Light by Anna Simpson
Below are descriptions and teasers for the four main
criminals so far in the Disaster Crimes series (Book One – Hurricane Crimes,
Book Two – Seismic Crimes).
Viktor Chuman AKA Chewy – One of the police officers
who killed Donovan’s brother. Internal Affairs Investigator Ryan Goldwyn. He is
brutal and nasty with a wide nose and a mean right hook.
Excerpt from Hurricane Crimes:
“Don’t move,” Chewy shouted at her. “You’re going to back
out of here one step at time. If you do anything stupid, I’ll blow a hole
through your boyfriend’s head.” He pressed the muzzle of the gun to Donovan’s
temple.
With her hands in the air, Beth slowly moved one foot
back at a time, her right foot dragging the gun along the ground and all the
way down the driveway to the canoe.
“I have to turn around to get it,” she explained. “When I
raise my hands, all I’ll have is a leather journal.”
“You better or it’s a bullet into Goldwyn’s brain.”
David Buckland AKA Buck – The other police officer
who killed Donovan’s brother, but the only one who got away and is on the run.
He’s cruel on purpose, had remarkably good luck, and many criminals on his
side.
Excerpt from Seismic Crimes:
Buck shot at them with abandon. The pings from bullets
hitting metal echoed throughout the garage. Heart beating so hard and fast that
it felt like it would explode, Beth peered left and right, searching for a safe
route out of the garage. Even if she could make it to the next aisle over, Buck
would no doubt follow with his gun blazing. By the sound of it, she figured it
was a semi-automatic, and there was no telling how many magazines he had on
him.
Glass rained down on her when bullets sliced through the
windows. She ducked her head even lower. Pieces of glass slid off her head to
the ground where shards circled her feet like a ring of posies. A few of the
glass puzzle pieces from the window had collected on her lap. She brushed them
off and pressed her hands firmly against the passenger door. More glass fell on
her when the truck’s window behind her erupted.
Viper – Viper is a drug dealer widely known
throughout Central Florida. He illegally sells marijuana and not for medical
purposes either. He has a stash of guns and bundles of cash. His crib is always
full of other dealers and men getting high. Like Vegas, what happens in his
house stays in his house.
Excerpt from Seismic Crimes:
Viper’s lips spread into a wicked sneer, causing her
stomach to roll. She had the sickening feeling he wasn’t above taking advantage
of a woman passed out in his crib. “Anyway, do ya know where Buck is?”
Viper stood slowly, taking his gun in his hand. Her
breath caught painfully in her chest. This is it. He’s going to pop a
bullet in my head.
Separated by the coffee table, he pinned Beth in place
with his dark eyes. “Why the hell you wanna know?”
Jackson Storm – He is a big time criminal who has
done every crime in the book. For fun. He has countless criminals all across
the United States working for him and willing to do whatever he demands. He
even has ties to a police-killing Mob in Cleveland (30 Seconds). No one has
been able to catch him and that could be because corrupt cops helped him get
away with his evil doings.
Excerpt from Seismic Crimes:
“What do you want?”
“Isn’t that obvious?” He waved the gun at her. “You.”
Beth never thought a monosyllable could cause such
terror, but she was ready to pee her pants. “If you wanted to kill me, you
could have done that the second I walked out of the bathroom.”
“I don’t want to kill you here. I have somewhere special
picked out for your murder. And I plan on having fun with you first. When I do
kill you, though, I’ll make sure to have plenty of body parts left over so I
can send Donovan pieces of you…one by one. Then I’ll kill him in a way he won’t
ever see coming.”
More criminals to come in Book 3!
That last excerpt was so scary! Bad guys can be kind of oddly fun to write though, can't they? :)
ReplyDeleteThey certainly can. ;)
DeleteI do love writing bad guys. For some reason, they always get the best dialogue.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your excerpts!
The skies the limit with their dialogue.
DeleteI agree with the other comment that the last excerpt was really scary. I would imagine it could be challenging to write about criminals especially if one was a law abiding citizen; hard to imagine probably the mind of a criminal to write about it.
ReplyDeletebetty
It's actually not hard for me to write about criminals. I'm not sure what that means... lol
DeleteSadly there are sure criminals out there like that.
ReplyDeleteThat is the sad part.
DeleteOoh, great idea for a blog series. Very chilling villains!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Deniz!
DeleteOooo, sounds wicked good!!!
ReplyDeletesherry @ fundinmental
Thanks!
DeleteHi Chrys ... I certainly don't like Viper .. but never have liked snakes, or snakes in the grass ...
ReplyDeleteCheers Hilary
Viper is one we'll see again in a later book...
DeleteWonderful post Chrys, though I though a bit frightening towards the end.
ReplyDeleteYvonne.
A little fright can be good. ;)
DeleteThey all sound fantastic! I love the way you think. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you! From you, that's a great compliment. ;)
DeleteScary! But thrilling!
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteCreating antagonists or anti-heroes can be so fun, even if we're not supposed to be rooting for them. I love the names you've given your characters. My parents nicknamed me Chewy when I was a baby, because I sneezed a lot, though for most people, that nickname conjures up images of Chewbacca instead!
ReplyDeleteChewy certainly makes everyone think of Chewbacca. But it's a fun nickname. It can be cute as it was for you, or demeaning like for my character.
DeleteOMG, Chrys. I'm on the edge of my seat. That last one is freaky! Beth is so strong though. She'll save Donavan or he'll save her. Right? I guess I'll have to wait...
ReplyDeleteYup, you'll just have to wait. ;)
DeleteGetting a lot of sneak peeks into the next disaster crime adventure. Looking forward to reading it.
ReplyDeleteAnd many more sneak peeks to come. ;)
DeleteInteresting characters. I've never written any criminals but it sure looks like fun to do so. Now I want to meet these guys.
ReplyDeleteMeet them? Well, you can safely meet them by reading these books. ;)
DeleteCriminals, villains, bad guys. They're fun to write!
ReplyDeleteThey sure are!
DeleteGreat post! I love exploring the dark side of my characters. Such fun!
ReplyDeleteSo do I. ;)
DeleteThat's quite a crew. Excellent writing! You can tell you've had fun with this!
ReplyDeleteI did have fun with these criminals. ;)
DeleteOut of all your criminals, I think Jackson Storm is the worse of the worse.
ReplyDeleteHe is the infamous one.
DeleteBad guys can be the funnest to write.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely!
DeleteBased off of what I've read so far in 30 Seconds and these descriptions of your Disaster Crime series criminals, it appears you really like including a lot of action in your books :) It sounds like you have some interesting criminal characters.
ReplyDeleteI do, I do! I can't help it. I like action. ;)
DeleteWhat a great way for us to get to know your characters! This is fun, Chrys.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sandra!
DeleteChrys, I love the dialogues. Criminals are fun to write!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteI really liked all of them.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteI'm always ashamed to admit it, but I love a amazingly good bad guy!! Lol
ReplyDeleteAshamed? Nah! So do I. ;)
Delete*an
ReplyDeleteHi Chrys. It must be fun living with all those criminals and imagining more for future books.
ReplyDeleteIt is fun. Two will make little appearances in Book 3 and Viper will return for Book 4.
Delete