Welcome to my stop on the Partners In Crime Blog Tour for Cornered by Alan Brenham. Enjoy our interview and don't forget to enter the contest below!
Thanks for stopping by!

Cornered

by Alan Brenham

on Tour September 2014

Book Details:

Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Published by: Black Opal Books
Publication Date: July 19, 2014
Number of Pages: 320
ISBN: 9781626941380/9781626941373
Purchase Links:

Synopsis:

He’s haunted by the memory of a kidnapping case gone wrong…
Not wanting history to repeat itself, Detective Matt Brady struggles to solve the disappearances of seven young women, but he quickly finds himself pitted against a criminal organization that knows as much about police procedure as he does—an organization that will do whatever it takes to stay one step ahead of him. His troubles are compounded when a young veterinarian injects herself into the investigation and is targeted to become victim number eight. When he tries to protect her, he finds himself in the crosshairs of a professional cop killer. Can Brady solve the case in time to save his new love, or will this investigation be the death of both of them?

Kudos:

"Alan Brenham’s Cornered is a taunt thriller filled with murderous twists and turns that will satisfy readers who love good crime fiction. As a cop and a lawyer, Brenham has been there and done that and in this, his second outing, the authenticity of his storytelling ability continues to shine through." - Michael McGarrity, New York Times Bestselling Author of Hard Country & Backlands

Read an excerpt:

Brady moved next to Killebrew. “So you find anything?”
“No prints. But we did find a nine millimeter shell casing outside.” He pointed at the door. “The witness said she used a key to open the door when Becker failed to answer the doorbell.”
Brady knelt down next to the body and peered at her head. One apparent gunshot wound above the right eye. Her half-opened dilated pupils stared straight up towards the ceiling.
Killebrew stepped close to the wall opposite the front door, pointing at a hole. Blood spatter was on the lower half of the wall. “We removed the bullet from here. The round appears to be a nine millimeter. Same as the shell casing.”
He stood up and surveyed the living room. The front window was covered with flowery-patterned drapes. A piano sat in the far corner by the front window. He was no expert on furniture but the furniture appeared to be fairly expensive pieces. He saw some mail lying on the coffee table. Using a pen, he sifted through it, checking the sender’s address, but nothing jumped out at him. A family portrait of her, an ordinary-looking man with narrow shoulders he assumed was Burt Smith, and twins—a girl and a boy—sat on the end of the table.

Interview with Alan

Alan Welcome to The Reading Frenzy.
The cover on your new novel Cornered is fantastic.
Did you have any say in the choosing and do you think it represents your novel well?

Yes, I did. The artist created a draft cover image and from that point we went back and forth with changes until we finally agreed on the present cover. I wanted a different color and format arrangement than the one he did for Price of Justice. I think it does a fantastic job of depicting what Cornered is all about.

Tell us a little about Cornered.

Cornered is a story about a small town detective trying hard to solve the disappearances of young women while trying to exorcise a long-time demon from a kidnapping case gone wrong. His efforts change his status from hunter to hunted. I chose Temple for the setting because I used to be a Temple PD detective and was very familiar with the city’s geography.

Alan what a varied and distinguished career background you have in both law enforcement and being an attorney, both in the US and overseas. What do you think in your background most helps you in your being a novelist?

Thank you. My law enforcement experience opened a lot of doors allowing me to consult with other detectives in Texas. It’s been a while since I worked a criminal case from a law enforcement perspective so their help is very important.

My criminal trial experience both as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney gives me the ability to make the story more realistic. It also lessens the need for some fact-checking.

Alan Cornered is your second novel, your first novel Price of Justice was voted best in Police/Crime fiction from the Texas Association of Authors in 2013, a finalist in the Eric Hoffer Awards, and a finalist in the 2014 International Book Awards. Wow! Congratulations!
This is a hard act to follow. How did winning these awards affect the writing of the second novel Cornered? Or did it?

Thank you. They spurred me on to make Cornered even better. One always likes a pat on the back for a good job. I hope Cornered fares as well with readers and judges as Price of Justice did. Time will tell.

Alan you’re now working on your 4th novel. Has your writing changed from number one to now?

It’s my belief that one never stops learning. It was like that as a law enforcement officer - new ways of doing things. As an attorney, reading the latest cases and keeping up with court decisions which affected my own cases was a daily thing.
Now I spend non-writing hours studying a lot of different authors in the thriller genre - breaking down how their characters blend into the plot as well as techniques for creating and maintaining conflict and suspense. So, in answer to your question, I believe my writing has gotten better. The readers will be the final judges.

Alan do you write to a certain audience or do you think your novels cross the gender barrier?

I’ve written all three novels featuring strong male and female characters with a romantic twist added in so they would appeal to both genders. At the same time, these three novels, Price of Justice, Cornered, and Rampage, are aimed at an adult audience due to the language and the violence. My next novel, at least at this stage of planning, will seek a wider audience while still crossing the gender barrier.

Alan, Cornered has received some wonderful critical/editorial and reader reviews. As an author what’s your take on reviews? Do you think they help or hurt book sales?

Reviews, good or bad, are one person’s opinion of the worth of a book. That said, I believe those reviews are helpful to potential readers in deciding whether they want to purchase a certain book. But I don’t think they are the sole determining factor behind whether a reader buys this book instead of that one.

Alan you’re a pretty connected author. How much time per day do you devote to social media/your website etc..

For me, it’s important to keep an active social media presence. As soon as I park myself and my cup of coffee in front of the computer monitor, my first stop are the social media pages - Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+. During the course of an average day, I’ll spend most of the morning reading posts and connecting with both old and new followers.

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer these questions.

Good luck with this book and all your future endeavors.

Author Bio:

Alan Behr served as a law enforcement officer and criminal investigator for seventeen years before earning a law degree from Baylor University. After obtaining his law license, he worked as a prosecutor and criminal defense attorney for twenty-two years. His personal and official travels took him to several European and Middle Eastern countries, Alaska and almost every island in the Caribbean. He has lived in Berlin, Germany while working with US military forces. After retiring from government service, he has authored two crime novels - Price of Justice and Cornered - under the pen name of Alan Brenham. He is presently working on two more novels. Alan and his wife, Lillian, currently live in the Austin, Texas area.