Helena smiled. “That sounds about right.”
“What’s my prognosis?”
“The doctors say you’ll make a full recovery. They had to remove a few yards of intestine, but apart from the scars and a need to eat more bran, they don’t think you’ll notice—not too much anyway.”
“I needed to lose some weight anyway.”
Helena rolled her eyes.
“What about Linda and Jeannie?” Ian asked.
“They’re both OK. No lasting physical damage.”
“And Rolando?”
Helena looked off to the side. “They doctors say it’s a miracle, but he’ll recover. Your actions saved his life.”
Ian reached out and took hold of his wife’s hand. “That’s good.”
She turned and stared into his eyes. “Is it?”
“For you. Yes. It might not be so good for him, depending on what prison he gets sent to for Hogg’s murder. There’s an angry car buff waiting to talk to him.”
Helena lifted his hand and kissed his fingers. “Can I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“How do you feel?”
“You asked me that already.”
“No, not physically. How do you feel about Petra? Jersey said the smoke from your tires blocked their view, but I know what you did.”
“I don’t feel anything,” said Ian. “It doesn’t lessen the pain of losing Emily, and I don’t feel proud of what I did. But I’m not upset that she’s dead, and it feels right that I was there to watch her die.”
A tear rolled down Helena’s cheek. “Do you believe Emily forgives us?”
Ian swallowed and felt his own eyes well up. “I don’t think that was ever the problem. Emily’s love for us was unconditional. I don’t believe she would have blamed us for a moment. It’s us who can’t forgive.”
Helena kissed his fingers again and held them against her wet cheek. “I’d like to try.”
“Me, too,” said Ian.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born in Scotland, living in Canada and writing American fiction, Grant wears a toque and kilt with his six-guns. His debut novel, Switch, earned fantastic reviews internationally when it was published by Bantam UK, in Germany by Heyne, and in Canada by Penguin. It has also been translated into Complex Chinese for Spring International Publishers of Taiwan, and Polis Books has made it available in the U.S.
Writing under the pen name M.C. Grant, a new mystery series set in San Francisco was launched by Midnight Ink. Angel With A Bullet, the first in the Dixie Flynn series, was followed by Devil With A Gun and Beauty With A Bomb.
As a journalist, Grant has worked in virtually every area of the newspaper business from the late-night dead body beat at a feisty daily tabloid to editor at two of Canada’s largest broadsheets, plus editor-in-chief of the alt-weekly Monday Magazine. He has also contributed numerous technology/humor columns to magazines around the world. He resides in Victoria, B.C., where he works with people experiencing homelessness and poverty.
Grant can be contacted via his website at http://grantmckenzie.net
And on Facebook at: http://facebook.com/grant.mckenzie
Ian Quinn returns in
THE BUTCHER’S APRON
SWITCH
How far will one man go to save the ones he loves most?
Two strangers trapped in the same kidnapping nightmare face their worst fears when they are challenged to destroy everything they hold dear in order to save the ones they love.
Set in Portland, Oregon, featuring the spooky and labyrinthine tunnels underneath the city, this is a fantastically commercial, brilliantly paced read from a debut author.
“Think Harlan Coben on speed with a heart breaking compassion that will literally have you biting your nails.” — Ken Bruen, best-selling author of the Jack Taylor series
“Switch crackles with suspense and is as tense as a switchblade opening in a dark alley.” — Rick Mofina, international best-selling author
“A terrific little-guy-in-big-trouble thriller moving at warp speed - with the emphasis on warp.” — Lee Child, #1 NY Times best-selling author
“Switch is not merely good, it’s damned good.” — David Hagberg, best-selling author of Joshua’s Hammer
“Grant McKenzie really knows how to make a story move.” — Linwood Barclay, best-selling author of No Time For Goodbye
NO CRY FOR HELP
During a cross-border shopping trip, a family vanishes.
No reason.
No ransom.
No cry for help.
Bus driver Wallace Carver fears the worst when his family fails to meet him at the Bellingham, Washington mall. His anxiety is justifiably heightened when security cameras unexplainably show that he crossed the Peace Arch border alone.
Now all Wallace wants to do is get his wife and sons back. But first he has to work out why they were taken and by whom.
“A terrific novelist . . . I hope American publishers are taking note!”
— Tess Gerritsen, NY Times bestselling author
“A great read! The ultimate page-turner.” — William Kinsella, author of Shoeless Joe (Field of Dreams)
Reader reviews:
“One of the most frenetic, atmospheric and imaginative books I’ve read this year.” — Milo Rambles
“McKenzie always manages to draw his readers from the very first line . . . and it is just as impressive that he keeps this tension to the end with a breathtaking pace.” — hammett-krimis.de
“(With Switch) I recall writing that Lee Child needs to look out. I was wrong, he needs to look up! Great book, great read, thank you Grant, I am looking forward to your next.” — Cormac McCarthy
PORT OF SORROW
A sadistic killer has turned Port Sorrow into his personal hunting ground.
Traveling the stripper circuit of small town America, Finn is a female impersonator with a golden voice who never made the big time. His latest stop is Port Sorrow, a rough-and-tumble coastal town on the northern edge of the Olympic Peninsula.
In the audience tonight, rookie deputy sheriff Julia Rusk has drawn the short straw and is scanning the rowdy audience for signs of a suspected serial rapist.
A shotgun blast brings these two strangers together as a young stripper bleeds out on stage.
While Julia tries to find the gunman and prove she’s worthy to wear the badge, Finn takes the law into his own hands. Tracking through seedy dockside bars and the hidden world of the homeless, Finn comes to realize just how many lives this killer has touched.
But what neither of them realizes is the killer doesn’t work alone, and not even the police can protect them when he finally shows his face.
Reader reviews:
“A fantastic book that kept me up at night when I should have been sleeping, a page turner that as you got closer to the end you didn’t want it to finish, Kept me guessing until near the end just what I like in a thriller.” — Jean (Amazon US)
“Find a comfortable chair and strap yourself in because Grant McKenzie is going to take you on a fast paced ride filled with murder, deception, and bravery. Grant’s ability to paint a picture with his words makes you feel like you are indeed in Port Sorrow. All of the characters are so expertly developed you can’t help but be pulled into the story.” — Darwin Unrsu (Amazon US)
ANGEL WITH A BULLET
Wisecracking reporter Dixie Flynn thinks fast and talks even faster—it’s the only way to survive the San Francisco crime beat. When she’s assigned to look into the death of her former lover, artist Diego Chino, Dixie’s instincts tell her there’s more behind the apparent suicide than the police are letting on.
Dixie’s canvassing of the Bay Area art district reveals it to be a perfect picture of corruption, with a handsome art dealer and a reclusive patron in the foreground. After a romantic evening in Chinatown ends in a brush with death, Dixie is more determined than ever to expose the truth. But when a fire in her vicinity turns out to be more tha
n just performance art, it’s clear the perpetrators would rather see Dixie dead than let her destroy their criminal masterpiece.
“Dixie Flynn may be the most kick-ass heroine ever created. Kudos to Grant for giving us the ultimate ‘girl power’ thriller!” — Tess Gerritsen, New York Times bestselling author of The Silent
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