PRESS RELEASE - Cat's Crusade #1 - Catalyst

 PRESS RELEASE

CATALYST – CAT’S CRUSADE #1 

Published on 21 March 2023 by Rough Edges Press, Las Vegas, USA

 

 

UK kindle: https://tinyurl.com/bdhfbe3n

US kindle: https://tinyurl.com/ftukpxyr

A fast-paced thriller with never-ending threats and sexy suspense…

A catalyst is a person who precipitates events. That’s Catherine Vibrissae. Orphan, chemist, model, and crusading cat.

Seeking revenge against Loup Dante, the Head of Ananke—and the man responsible for the takeover of her father’s company—Cat will stop at nothing to uncover his wicked agenda. A trained chemist and an accomplished climber, she is not averse to breaking and entering. So, when she crosses paths with an attorney for the bloodless organization and uncovers a mysterious product called Catananche, Cat risks injury and death to learn more.

Ranging from South England to the northeast, from Wales to Barcelona, Cat’s quest for vengeance is implacable. But will she be able to escape the clutches of an unexpected and whip-wielding enemy?

The first in the Cat’s Crusade series, Catalyst follows a strong female character who has a thirst for action.

***

Nik Morton has been a book and magazine editor for many years and is also the author of over 30 books. His latest thrillers, recently published by Rough Edges Press are: Rogue Prey, No Prisoners and Organ Symphony, featuring the half-Spanish, half-English private investigator Leon Cazador.

He and his family returned to UK after spending 15 years in Spain, and now reside in Northumberland.

Nik can be contacted on mortonnik@gmail.com.

Paperback trilogy - the cat's meow...

• Three exciting paperback action romantic adventures featuring ‘the avenging Cat’! 

•  With superb uniform covers from Crooked Cat Publishing.

Catalyst - £7.99

Kindle also available – (series introductory bargain!) - £0.86

Catacomb - £5.99

Kindle - £2.58

Cataclysm - £6.99

Kindle - £2.58

Other e-book formats are also available.

CATALYST

The Avenging Cat series #1

Catalyst: a person that precipitates events.

That's Catherine Vibrissae. Orphan. Chemist. Model. Avenging Cat. She seeks revenge against Loup Malefice, the man responsible for the takeover of her father's company. An accomplished climber, Cat is not averse to breaking and entering to confound her enemies. Ranging from south of England to the north-east, Wales and Barcelona, Cat's quest for vengeance is implacable. But with the NCA hot on her tail, can she escape the clutches of sinister Zabala and whip-wielding Profesora Quesada?

CATACOMB

The Avenging Cat series #2

Catacomb: a subterranean cemetery: a place where ancient corpses are found – or new ones are dumped.
After their recent success in Barcelona, Cat and Rick continue their vendetta against Loup Malefice and his global company, Cerberus, penetrating the lair of Petra Grimalkin in Nice. But death stalks the pair, as do the dogs of law from the NCA, Basset and Pointer. Cat’s trail of vengeance next leads to the Cerberus health food processing plant in the Maghreb. She puts her skills to good use in Morocco where she again confronts the psychotic killer, Zabala. From the exotic streets of Tangier to the inhospitable High Atlas Mountains, danger lurks and a deadly ambush awaits…

CATACLYSM

The Avenging Cat series #3

Cataclysm:  a political or social upheaval

Some months after their adventure in Morocco, Catherine Vibrissae receives devastating news from Rick – news that will change her life. Still determined to go to Shanghai to face down her arch enemy Malefice and end her vendetta once and for all, she thwarts an ambush by Cerberus’ head of security, Mr Soong. To complicate matters, oligarch and people smuggler Belofsky is in Shanghai with his own agenda. While Cat plays cat-and-mouse with Soong, she uncovers a conspiracy that could lead to war between China and Japan

Leap of Faith - Book review

Richard Hardie’s YA novel, Leap of Faith, the first in the Temporal Detective Agency series, is great fun. Narrated by Tertia, it brings to mind Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next novels and Terry Pratchett’s Discworld, as the same kind of wry and dry humour is in evidence.

Teenage Tersh and her cousin Unita (Neets) are apprentices of Merlin. The famous wizard is actually a woman, wouldn’t you know? Well, now you do. Keep up. These nearly-wizards are Merl’s Girls (hoping that the BBC doesn’t ban this term!), members of the Temporal Detective Agency (along with Marlene, the sister of the more famous Merlin), that is time travellers who happen to have the odd handy nifty time portal. Beats commuting. Zzzzzzzp.

When the duo investigate the missing statue of Nelson, having vanished off his column, they end up on the Welsh coast in the past; Port Eynon, 1734. They meet up with Bryn; as Tertia muses,  ‘… he wasn’t all that bad looking for a boy. If he played his cards right he stood a chance of a date, I reckoned, even if I was a thousand years older than him. Maybe he liked older women.’

Hardie never lets up with the pace, thrusting Neets into one predicament after another. There is quite a bit of history behind her, obviously! And it now, perhaps predictably, turns up to haunt them in the guise of the Black Knight, who escaped his due comeuppance at Camelot. Problem is that Sir Galahad isn’t interested in chasing bad knights, he’d rather attend to his new restaurant, the Olé Grill, not to be confused with the Holy Grail, which he purportedly found...

Zzzzzzp.

Thrown into the mix is police inspector Smollett, with his illegal truncheon; he was snatched into the time portal and his life was never the same again: ‘water poured from his shoes onto the carpet and added to the pool I’d created earlier. Of course his feet were several times larger than mine so he dripped longer and more thoroughly.’

 
The most calming thing is a cup of Merl Grey, apparently. And we need bucketsful as the pace quickens. We soon learn that Bryn’s father isn’t quite who he seems… Mystery and plot thicken, though the Merl Grey remains digestible and drinkable. There are a few likeable characters to meet too, notably Mrs Jones, a fantastic cook and marvellous eater. Not to be confused with Miss Jones, the head teacher, who employs Tersh briefly to mesmerise the children with her tales of derring-don’t do this at home stuff. There’s romance in the air, too, but not too soppy – this is a YA book, after all, and there are more serious things to write about, like swordfights and betrayal and hidden ill-gotten treasure…
 
Temporal paradoxes are acknowledged too – ‘One of Neets’s temporal anemones…’ Tersh observed knowingly.

Zzzzzzp.

 
The title relates to the cliff-top – from where people can make a leap of faith… and die… Very significant, that. Won’t say more on the subject, save that the ending is moving and the imagery works very well. I liked the sentence and sentiment – ‘Time for a group smile, then.’
 
I felt that maybe some of the chapter headings gave away too much about what was to happen; or perhaps they were intended to reassure the reader. Minor quibble.
 
Recommended. Please zzzzzzzzp it into your e-reader  or buy the book and enjoy.
 
[A shorter version of this review will appear on Amazon…]