Lucky Catch
Lucky Catch by Deborah Coonts
Series: Lucky O’Toole Vegas Adventure #5
Paperback
Expected publication: August 26th 2014 by Cool Gus Publishing
Trouble always comes in threes. At least that’s what Lucky O’Toole, the VP of Customer Relations for Las Vegas’ primo Strip casino/hotel, the Babylon, has heard for years from her mother. So, tonight, when Teddie, her former lover shows up at her office unannounced and very unexpected, her father offers Teddie a job at the Babylon, she is called to deal with a pig in residence at one of the hotels most exclusive and opulent suites, and Lucky’s current lover, Jean-Charles Bouclet stops answering his phone leaving Lucky to handle his five-year-old son, Lucky figures she has tonight’s compliment of chaos covered.
As usual, she is a tad optimistic.
With a cadre of celebrity chefs with the maturity of teenagers in Vegas for a televised cook-off, a prized Alba truffle in the Babylon’s care, and her mother’s pregnancy racing toward the inevitable, what could go wrong?
When the truffle is stolen from the walk-in in Jean-Charles’ gourmet burger joint at the Babylon and a young chef apparently killed with a smoking gun is found in Jean-Charles’ food truck on the back lot, trouble takes a sinister turn.
And Jean-Charles still isn’t answering his phone.
Another body is discovered. This one stuffed in an oven at Jean-Charles’ eponymous restaurant and set to broil.
Desperate to put a lid on the body count and more than frantic over her AWOL lover, Lucky uses her Vegas contacts to search in places and in ways the police wouldn’t or couldn’t. Teddie insists on riding shotgun. Lucky hasn’t the time nor the resolve to say no. She’s never been able to resist Teddie … not really. With danger dogging their heels, Lucky finds herself falling once again under his spell as they traverse Vegas, being drawn deeper and deeper into the highly competitive world of high-end eateries and the battle for the very rare, most highly prized gourmet foodstuffs.
Would somebody really kill for a truffle?
In a heartbeat.
And when Lucky’s path crosses the killer’s… will her goose be cooked?
Trailer
Welcome to The Book Bag today, Deborah! I have a question I like to ask authors, I call it my 'Voices' question. I love hearing the responses. I think it gives us valuable insight into an author's mind.
Again, thanks for being here and I wish you much success with
Lucky Catch.
I have heard other authors say that they 'hear voices in their head' and that is how they write their books: the characters are telling their stories. Not being a writer myself, that concept has always intrigued me.
When some people hear voices, we get them medical attention, others end up becoming writers. Does this happen to you? How do you come up with your stories?
Ah, yes, that whole “visual” thing. At the risk of sounding as if I need serious psychiatric care, I do see imaginary people…and they do talk to me. In fact, when we get to know each other well, say in the middle of a story, they often awaken me from a sound sleep, get me out or the shower, or up from dinner, to listen and note what they want to tell me. You’d think I could have imaginary friends with better manners…..
Years ago I dated a psychologist….briefly. One day he called me up and asked me what I was going to do all day (people often think that because I don’t go in to an office, I don’t work—some of them are lucky to be alive). I told him I was planning on doing what I do every day: play with my imaginary friends. There was a pause, then he said, “You know, to most in my profession you would be an annuity.” Yes, well, I live in fantasy world and I’m happy there. People treat me nicely, they amuse me, I can write men the way I wish they would be…and I can kill people I don’t like without going to jail. What’s not to like?
When I wrote WANNA GET LUCKY? I was sure it was the only good story I would ever have. Wrong. Once you open that door in your brain and let the stories in, word gets out, and other stories beat a path to you. It’s sorta like what happened to the Whoopi Goldberg character in Ghost. Mainly though, I get ideas from listening to other people talk and tell me about their interests, their passions. Or, I have an innocent question that leads me to murder. That’s how the current book, LUCKY CATCH (out August 26th), came to be.
You see, it all started with a smoking gun.
I was eating dinner at one of my favorite local restaurants in Vegas, Due Forni, with two of my best buds, one of them a chef. As a first course, we ordered some of the homemade mozzarella and their famous bread (totally to die for). I ordered the smoked cheese and, through mouthfuls I expressed my pleasure and my wonder at how they imparted the smoky flavor. I’m originally from Texas and the whole smoked thing is a religion there—but it requires a huge smoker and tons of hickory and I didn’t see that sort of set up at Due Forni. So, I wondered out loud how someone might give fresh mozzarella a smoked flavor.
My bud, the chef, looked at me as if I’d been living under a rock and announced, “With a smoking gun, of course.”
But, of course! A smoking gun. Who knew?
That little tidbit stopped me mid-bite and totally derailed his dinner as I peppered him with questions.
I mean, there’s just something so prosaic about killing someone with a smoking gun, don’t you think?
So, off the story ran, as stories are wont to do. Before long I found myself mired hip-deep in the world of gourmet cookery. And I became interested in the conundrum of serving incredibly fresh food in a place that is as hospitable to the nurture of delicate plants and exotic fish as the surface of the moon. And that led to research into the pipeline for gourmet foodstuffs, the need for temperature control, for impeccable and consistent quality and lightning fast shipments. All of this is incredibly competitive, with the top-tier chefs locked in a fierce battle for the freshest, most unique items on the planet.
The perfect recipe for murder.
Or several, as the case may be… kitchens are dangerous places, you know.
Please join Lucky on her wild ride through the kitchens of Vegas and find out whether Lucky can clear her chef of multiple murders before his goose is cooked, whether she decides it’s possible to love again without being parboiled in the process, and who her LUCKY CATCH might be.
And whether I might be shot for working a metaphor so hard it rolled over and died.
About the author
I am proof positive that sex sells…and persistence pays off. After fifteen years learning the craft of writing, I am now officially, an overnight success. And it’s been a long road to get here…
My mother tells me I was born in Texas a very long time ago, but I’m not so sure—my mother can’t be trusted. These things I do know: I was raised in Texas on barbeque, Mexican food and beer. I’ve lived in every time zone in the U.S.; the most memorable stint being the time spent in Las Vegas, where I currently reside and where family and friends tell me I can't get into too much trouble...silly people.
The only constant in my life (besides my family, who deserves hazardous duty pay for sticking with me) has been change (my mother is still waiting for me to grow up). Silly woman.
But all of this career ADD made me incredibly unemployable. Hence the whole writing thing.
Actually, I’ve known from a young age that somehow stories would be a large part of my life, but my path to telling lies for a living (okay, not lies per se, but variations of the truth, for sure) has been circuitous. If someone had just told me when I was a kid that I could actually be paid to daydream for a living, life would have been soooo much easier. But they didn’t. And I never saw a ‘daydreaming’ booth at all those Career Days I attended.
So, initially discouraged when unable to locate anyone willing to pay me to read books, go to the movies, or attend the theatre, and in need of providing for the best child in the world, my son Tyler, I spent years being someone else—an accountant (blech), a business owner (pretty fun), a lawyer (loved law school, hated practicing law), a pilot (giddy and terrifying at the same time). But through it all, I wrote. Along the way I wrote the world’s worst novel, a slightly more well-crafted but equally as poorly plotted novel, several non-fiction feature articles (my first sales!), multiple humor columns for a national magazine (more sales!), and, finally, the novel that sold, Wanna Get Lucky?, the first in a series to be published by Forge Books. The series is a Sex and the City meets Elmore Leonard in Vegas kind of thing, if you can imagine that. Okay, have several glasses of wine, then think about it…makes imagining easier. Anyway, the books are sexy, wry, romantic, and slightly naughty mixed with a little murder and mayhem—shaken, not stirred—then illuminated by the bright lights of Las Vegas—one of the truly magical cities in the world.
Many of my friends have asked me how in the world I came up with the Lucky series. The way they asked led me to believe they thought mind-altering substances might have been involved even though they knew the worst I do is a glass of fine Pinot-Noir. The answer to their question is actually very simple: let your fifteen-year-old male child pick where you live, follow his dream to Vegas, then keep your eyes open.
Hey, it worked for me!
Connect with Deborah
Giveaway ends September 16th.
Deborah is giving away an e-book copy of her book at each stop of the tour. All you have to do is leave a comment to enter the giveaway here at The Book Bag. Winner will be randomly chosen from those who commented.
Let's give Deborah some comment love! Ask her anything! She'll stop by and answer your questions.
I want to know, have you ever been to Vegas? Do you want to go? I sure do, it's on my bucket list!
Now, go check out some of the other stops on the tour. It will be fun and ... more chances to win!
Lucky Catch Blog Tour Stops
Be sure to check the sidebar for my current giveaways!
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