Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Thursday's Special Is...The Stolen!

The Stolen by Jason Pinter

Buy from Amazon



Jason Pinter is the bestselling author of the THE STOLEN, THE GUILTY and THE MARK, which was nominated for the Strand Magazine Critics award, the Barry award, the Romantic Times Reviewers Choice award, and was optioned for film. His critically acclaimed Henry Parker series has been published in more than 10 countries in over half a dozen languages. Jason’s weblog, “The Man in Black,” was named one of the top mystery blogs by Library Journal and one of the top writing and publishing blogs by Associated Content. He is a member of International Thriller Writers and Mystery Writers of America, and is a founding member of Killer Year. He lives in New York City with his wife Susan and their dog Wilson, and is currently at work on his next Henry Parker novel.

*****

Book excerpt:

James was grimacing through his last scraps of food when Shelly heard the doorbell.

“That’s got to be Daddy,” Shelly said. “He probably forgot his keys again this morning. James, would you let your father in?” James didn’t move. “Did you hear me?”

"I’m cleaning my plate like you told me. I can’t answer the door and eat at the same time.” He smiled at this catch-22. Shelly sighed, though silently proud of her son’s intelligence.

“Fine, you can stop eating if you let your father in. But if I hear that video game start up before you finish your social studies homework you won’t watch television until you graduate college.”

James sprung up like he’d been in an ejector seat, bolted from his chair.

Shelly smiled at her daughter. Tasha. Her beautiful, young daughter, who would grow up to be strong and vivacious like her mother had never been. Shelly felt an ache in her stomach, placed her palm on Tasha’s cheek. Tasha smiled at her, that big goofy grin full of baby teeth.

“Mom?” James’s voice bellowed from the hallway. “There’s a kid here. Do you know anyone named Daniel.”

A napkin fell from Shelly’s hand and fluttered to the floor.

“Wha…what did you say baby?”

“Daniel. There’s some kid at the door says he knows you. Wait, huh? Uh, mom? He says…he says you’re his mom.”

Shelly leapt from her seat. She dashed through the house, nearly knocking over the coffee table, and sprinted into the front hallway.

The wooden frame was open to reveal the screen door. Daniel was standing behind the screen, looking confused as to why he hadn’t been allowed in yet. Shelly covered her mouth to prevent a scream from leaving her lips.

On the other of the door side stood a boy Shelly both knew and didn’t know. He was about five foot three with a lock of dark hair that fell over his hazel eyes. His father’s eyes. His limbs were gangly, full of sharp angles, like he’d grown a great deal in a short amount of time and the flesh hadn’t caught up to his bones. Everything and nothing was just like she remembered.

“Baby, oh my god…”

She gently pushed James away from the door and tore open the screen. The boy stood on the front porch with a look of slight bewilderment, a twinkle of recognition, a blurry memory slowly coming into focus. He didn’t move. Instead the boy’s eyes met Shelly’s as though waiting for something, and before another second passed Shelly Linwood gathered the boy up into her arms and squeezed him like there was no tomorrow, until his arms tentatively wrapped themselves around her body and held on. She remembered how he felt in her arms, and though heavier, he was the same boy she’d held in her arms for the first five years of his life. She showered the boy’s head with kisses until he pulled away slightly, an embarrassed grin on his young face.

“Oh my god,” she whispered. “Oh my god, oh my god oh my god. Baby, is it really you?” The boy shrugged, then was muffled as Shelly attempted to squeeze the life out of him again.
**************************************************************************

Questions:

1) Name two things that Jason can't do at the same time.

2) Someone's standing at Jason's front door. He (or she) has urgent business with Jason. Who is this person, and what do they want?

3) What did five-year-old Jason like to squeeze?


**Come back Friday to read chapter one in its entirety! A very nice weekend treat!!**

73 comments:

Chris Eldin said...

Welcome Jason!

Let the party begin!!
:-)

Sandra Cormier said...

Hi Jason! I'm doing the smart thing and waiting a while before attempting to answer the questions, but I thought I'd welcome you to this crazy bunch.

I followed your blog when you first released The Mark, and I'm happy for you in your success.

I'll be back!

Chris Eldin said...

Hi Chumplet,

I can't wait to post Jason's and Bill's first chapters on Friday!!!

This excerpt is soooo much better when read in context with the rest of the chapter!
:-)

The Anti-Wife said...

1. 2 things he can't do at the same time:
Stand on his head and eat spaghetti with meat sauce.

2. Who's at the door:
Pamela Anderson. She wants him to change his character's name to Harriet Parker so she can make a movie based loosely on the book. Did she mention the stripper pole?

3. What he squeezed:
His cheeks - guess which end?

Jason Pinter said...

Hey everyone - Happy to be here, enjoy the excerpt and I'm excited to see some good responses. The person with the best answers gets a signed copy of THE STOLEN, so turn on your imaginations hats (sold at Best Buy for $39.95) and get cracking!

Jason

Charles Gramlich said...

1) Name two things that Jason can't do at the same time.

Answer: talk and drink whiskey.

2) Someone's standing at Jason's front door. He (or she) has urgent business with Jason. Who is this person, and what do they want?

Answer: It turns out it's not Jason's front door. After getting drunk from trying to talk and drink whiskey at the same time, he's wandered into someone else's house. And it's the homeowner standing at the front door wanting to know why Jason is hanging out in his house in his superman undies.

3) What did five-year-old Jason like to squeeze?

Squishy things like bananas and chocolate pudding.

McKoala said...

Loving the idea of whole chapters to read over the weekend! Can't wait!

Janet said...

1) Name two things that Jason can't do at the same time.

Drink Pepsi and read Janet Reid's blog.

2) Someone's standing at Jason's front door. He (or she) has urgent business with Jason. Who is this person, and what do they want?

The talking basketball at the door claims to be his dog's father and is prepared to go to court to get custody.

3) What did five-year-old Jason like to squeeze?

Pancakes. The more syrup the better.

Bill Cameron said...

1. Chew bubble gum and squeeze the thing he liked to squeeze at age 5.

2. Something about aluminum siding.

3. The Charmin

Hey, Jason! How ya doing!?

Chris Eldin said...

Good Morning Everyone!
Warming up some coffee....
:-)

Whirlochre said...

1.
Breathe and not breathe.

2.
A red herring with a thoroughly plausible reason for being there.

3.
Slugs. He discovered that if you squeeze hard enough, all the slug slush fills the little bobbles on the end of the antennae.

laughingwolf said...

welcome jason... boy, are you in for it here! ;) lol

1. jason can't type AND sleep simultaneously, so he opted for one of those voice-operated devices that even filters out snores [and other bedroom noises! :O lol]

2. standing at the door is a pair of cosa nostra hitmen, looking for... chris eldin! :O lol [j/k, chris!]

3. as a kid, jason liked to squeeze zits... on teenagers' faces! [ewww]

peggy said...

Good morning world! Welcome Jason :)

Hmm lets see now
things he can't do at the same time..Walk and drink beer

Whose at the door..besides the little kid..three MIB's wanting to talk to his mom about aliens

What he squeezed? a gerbil, but it bit him and thats how he ended up with the aliens see. He ran into their ship escaping fom the mad Gerbil, then the MIB's spotted him..

I need more coffee :)

laughingwolf said...

hiya peggy!

ii have fresh coffee... ;)

Anonymous said...

1) 2 things Jason can't do at the same time: Conjugate verbs and marry Rush Limbaugh. It's ok though Jason. Not many people can do these two things at the same time.

2) Who is at front door? Rush Limbaugh.
What do they want? Rush Limbaugh

3) What did five-year-old Jason like to squeeze?Rush Limbaugh

Also, I picked up the imagination cap at Best Buy, but I think it was faulty. Guess who was the cashier that sold it to me? Rush Limbaugh.

Chris Eldin said...

There are some pretty funny answers!

I almost wish I would've ask Jason to also offer a movie part...
Are there any gangsta roles? What do you think?

Bill Cameron said...

strugglingwriter, hahahaha!

laughingwolf said...

i'm all for parts, chris... movie, or otherwise! :O lol

peggy said...

hahaha, Jason doesn't wanna Rush into anything..
You guys are so funny! :)

Sandra Cormier said...

1) Jason can't walk the dog and watch CSI at the same time.

2) It's Billy Petersen at the door, asking if Jason would like to star in his next crime drama!

3) Five-year-old Jason liked to squeeze his soccer ball named Wilson.

Precie said...

I'm too lump-in-my-throat from the excerpt to answer the questions. Since becoming a parent, I've lost the ability to deal with Bad Stuff happening to children, even when ther's ultimately a happy ending.

Don't mind me...I'll just be over here in this corner...curled up on the floor, weeping.

peggy said...

It's okay Precie..We'll sic the MIB's and Rush and even the killer gerbils on the bad guys. It is great being a parent isn't it!

peggy said...

The chapters coming tomorrow sound great, I can hardly wait to read them.

Chris Eldin said...

Thanks Peggy! They really are!

Precie, what was that movie with Michelle Pfieffer--Other Side of the Ocean, or something like that? I can't watch too many of those...

Stephen Parrish said...

So where's Jason? Is his absence a promotional gimmick for THE STOLEN?

Quick! Find Jason! He's been . . . STOLEN!

Of course, if he shows up again he'll have to retitle his book:

THE RETURNED

or

THE BORROWED

THE LOST AND FOUND

THE LATE TO DINNER

Any more ideas? Best title wins a copy of Jason's next book, if he uses that title.

peggy said...

Hmmm, Missing in Action is already taken, I'd hate for Chuck Norris to come over here and get us :)

Pilfered and loving it?
Misplaced, the series?
LOL..I'm way too full of it today aren't I?

Precie said...

chris--Yup. Never saw it. Recently watched a Spanish film called The Orphanage (well, Spanish for Orphanage) with a similar but supernatural vein. I bawled for a long time afterward...and couldn't shake the film for days. I regret watching it...although it's not a bad film.

Hmmm...

LOST (Oh, right. That's taken.)

THE VANISHED

THE VANQUISHED

THE VARNISHED

Oh, sorry...lost track of what we're trying to title.

peggy said...

My sons (now grown) are my film critics..they tell me what NOT to watch cause they know sad things make me sad and stuff like that, so if they say..don't watch it mom..I don't. Now they also know I'm an action adventure movie freak so they clue me in on them too! It's nice having someone watch out for me...It's their turn anyway! :)

Ray Wong said...

1. Speak and drink at the same time.

2. Santa's a the door, and he wants the red fire truck back!

3. Lemons. Jason likes to squeeze lemons.

laughingwolf said...

jaundiced...? :O lol

Jason Pinter said...

Wow...I'm at a loss for words. Keep it coming, what else ya got? I want to lose sleep over this decision!!!

Anonymous said...

Hey, Jason! Welcome, welcome.

That was a hell of a knock on the door in your excerpt. I was there with the other kids thinking, um, yeah, mom???

peggy said...

Well, the except is making me loose sleep wonderin' what happend!

By the way? were you lost, misplaced, absent without malice?
We were all worried about you!

Chris Eldin said...

Peggy, Great setup!!

For a while there today, Jason was.....
*cue cheesy music*

The Stolen.

Jason Pinter said...

Apologies for my tardiness, we're in the middle of moving out of our apartment and if the place isn't clear in a few days I will be rolled up in a persian rug and dropped into the East River.

Chris Eldin said...

OOOO! Cool!

I have a persian rug story.

We live in Dubai part of the year (I've written a very popular series called The Dubai Chronicles which outlines my experiences there). Anyway, back to me.

Persian rugs are very cheap, so I bought a nice one for about $300 (same one here cost several thousand), and folded it into the suitcase and made my husband haul it over. Forgot to tell him what was inside. But we made it over the border without paying any customs.

If I add a dead body to that story, it could sell, couldn't it?

((Seriously though, welcome!! And I mean that more than parenthetically)

:-)

Chris Eldin said...

Just as I'm getting in the groove of picking on Jason, I have to go take Thing 2 to soccer.

Can you all keep him hopping?

Thanks!!
:-)

Will be back in a couple of hours...

Shona Snowden said...

Hi Jason! Thank you for coming to book roast today - at risk of your own demise. What lovely landlords you must have.

Thank you also for letting us showcase the whole first chapter on Friday, I'm excited to read more of this intriguing start.

But, I'm being too nice. On with the roast! I'm going to answer the questions, even though I'm technically ineligible (sigh):

1. It's got to be walk and talk. Sorry. But there's an art to it.

2. It's the landlord at the door. And he has a carpet.

3. Five-year old Jason liked to squeeze the same thing as all five-year old boys like to squeeze.

peggy said...

Hey a dead body or Cleopatra..Thats why Persian rugs were invented. The very earlt version of a glad bag :)
or is that a glad rag?
I hope thing does well at soccer:)

I'm hiding out right now so I don't have to help husband..he's do man stuff..ya know, tearing out a wall that was perfectly fine!!!!

peggy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Liz said...

1) Name two things that Jason can't do at the same time.
- Ride a unicycle backwards and do a cartwheel
2) Someone's standing at Jason's front door. He (or she) has urgent business with Jason. Who is this person, and what do they want?
- It's Fred Flintstone and he wants his mammoth dish washer back.

3) What did five-year-old Jason like to squeeze?
- Lemons for lemonade for his lemonade stand to make some money to buy the book "How to be Successful the Bart Simpson Way."

-Liz

Sandra Cormier said...

Chris, when I visited my dad in Algeria in the seventies, I had to smuggle in bacon and a Playboy magazine.

The customs guy was ready to open the suitcase when my dad waltzed in.

Customs guy recognized him right away. "Monsieur Cormier! C'est votre fille?" He made an X with chalk on my suitcase and waved me on my way.

laughingwolf said...

jason, how come you don't just fire up that magic persian carpet and move everything outta there with it, huh?

what could be simpler? :O lol

peggy said...

hey, we could open a moving company..use only flying carpets, save on gas too. Two men and a carpet moving company..Or is that name already taken?

Sandra Cormier said...

Somebody across the street just started playing bagpipes by himself, in the parking lot.

I called out, and he played one more.

Bill would've loved that.

Shona Snowden said...

Chumplet, my Dad spent some time in Saudi Arabia in the 70s, but I never got to visit, and thus was never turned into a child porn smuggler!

laughingwolf said...

shona, would haggis go over well in saudi arabia? ;)

Sandra Cormier said...

Not if it has pork in it!

peggy said...

smuggling bacon! hahaha, what you were smuggling cops into the middle east?
can you see it now?
1 Adam 12..have you made it through customs yet?
Adam 12 to one....no, I been exported because of my aftershave.
Odour of pork..
..
Ohhh, sorry that was so unPC of me.
sorry sorry ;)

Shona Snowden said...

I have no idea! I'm sure it's considered contraband, though.

Shona Snowden said...

I wonder if Jason has ever had haggis.

Sandra Cormier said...

That's okay, I don't know any cops.

Chris Eldin said...

LOL Chumplet!!! That's a precious X!
:-)


We have little under an hour left for anyone who wants a shot at Jason's book.

Chatting is encouraged at all times!

Sandra Cormier said...

I think Jason stumbled and fell into his Persian rug, never to be seen again.

Chris Eldin said...

Hi Everybody,

Thank you to *everyone* for stopping by!!! This has been a lot of fun.

Special thanks to Jason for participating in our roast! We were too nice this time. We'll have to do this again.
;-)

Jason will drop by and announce the winner, but in the meantime, I hope you have a chance to read his first chapter!!
:-)

peggy said...

I'll be here with bells on to catch it for sure. It's been a grand day...I can hardly wait until tomorrow ...I'll be the goof on the Persian rug!

Jason Pinter said...

Hey everyone - Thanks for participating, I'll go through the responses and pick a winner. And just in case you want to chime in, last chance!

laughingwolf said...

no pork in any haggis i've heard of, chumplet

love it... with single malt chaser ;)

jason, sorry for the disappointing number of participants, those of us here did try to run up the numbers for you, but there's only so much we can do without spamming :(

but it HAS been fun!

Sandra Cormier said...

I'd say the posts are pretty good compared to some that only get five responses. All in all, Book Roast is full of lively traffic.

Thanks for hanging with us, Jason. Good luck with all your books!

peggy said...

I bet folks got tied up...with day to day stuff. I had a great time and loved all the answers, everyone is oooo funny!
..Haggis and all :)

Chris Eldin said...

Hi Guys,

I don't normally do this, but I'll talk about the numbers for a bit...
You're right that only a handful of participants are actually chatting. We're trying to work on ways to encourage more "drive-by hi's."

But, this doesn't reflect the numbers behind the scenes. We've had several thousand page loads in the past few weeks. The number of unique visitors per author/agent/editor during the month of September has been in the hundreds (not counting the Book Roast team. We've deleted our addresses from the site meter so we wouldn't artificially inflate any numbers)

I just started the practice of letting authors know how many unique visitors have seen their posts (I know other members of the Book Roast team have been doing this for a while). So I try to compare it to a library or bookstore visit. For a one day affair, which is conducted from the comfort of the author's home, the numbers are phenomenal. We always like to increase them, but we don't want to do that by spamming.

Anyway, for the people who do take the time to talk and answer the questions, it means more books for you all!!

Thanks so much everybody!
:-)

Sandra Cormier said...

When I was roasted this past summer, I checked Google Analytics on my own blog and the hits spiked each time.

Not all hits are sales, but hey, every little bit helps and I'm forever grateful to Chris for her great idea!

laughingwolf said...

thx for the info, chris

was unaware of your tricks ;) lol

peggy said...

My goodness! These two chapters really have me going, not sure which is my favorite. We should comment on them too cause wow..some fine writing going on here!

Janet said...

I really enjoyed the excerpts too. So in the vague hope that Jason checks in here before choosing the winner:

*waves arms frantically* "Hey Jason! Pick me! Pick me!"

peggy said...

hahaha, Janet you are so funny! I hope you get the book!
Tis a fine book it be too..
Oh, I forgot today is Speak Pirate day! Arghhh!
saw it on the news..must be true!

laughingwolf said...

avast ye swabs afore i keelhauls the lotta ye! arrr! :P lol

laughingwolf said...

so... who won?

Jason Pinter said...

Hey all -

First off, my apologies for taking so long. We're in the middle of moving and my focus has been interrupted, to say the least.

Thanks to everyone for participating, I really appreciate it. I hope you've all given the Henry Parker series a shot, and if not you won't be on my Christmas card list. Of course I'm Jewish, so nobody will be on my Christmas card list.

So without further ago, the winner is...

THE ANTI-WIFE!!! Congratulations!

Send me your name and address to jason@jasonpinter.com and a copy of THE STOLEN will be winging its way to you ASAP.

Shona Snowden said...

Thank you Jason and congratulations to the anti-wife!

Chris Eldin said...

Congratulations AW!!!

Thank you--to everyone--for stopping by and participating!!!!

And thank you Jason for being part of the Book Roast!

:-)

The Anti-Wife said...

I won! WOOOHOO! Thanks. Off to e-mail you!

**HappyDance**

laughingwolf said...

grats aw! :)