VBT ~ New York Night by Stephen Leather

 New York Night
by Stephen Leather

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GENRE: Horror/Supernatural

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BLURB:

Teenagers are being possessed and turning into sadistic murderers. Priests can’t help, nor can psychiatrists. So who is behind the demonic possessions? Jack Nightingale is called in to investigate, and finds his own soul is on the line. New York Night is the seventh novel in the Jack Nightingale supernatural detective series.

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BOOK EXCERPT

Sara could see that he was afraid so she smiled what she hoped was a comforting smile. ‘It’s a game,’ she said. ‘It’s just a game.’

‘If you want to play a game, let’s play Grand Theft Auto,’ said her brother. Luke was ten, six years younger than she was. They rarely played together but she needed another pair of hands for the Ouija board and Luke could be relied on to do as he was told.

‘Because I want to play this,’ she said.

‘It’s stupid,’ he said. ‘I’ve never heard of a game like this before.’ He sat back on his heels. They were in her bedroom. He was rarely allowed into her room and had looked at her suspiciously when she had first suggested they play a game together.

‘You liked Charlie Charlie didn’t you? Well this is the same. You can ask it question and it’ll answer.’

‘Charlie Charlie is for fun,’ said the boy.

‘So is this. But with Charlie Charlie you can only pick one of four answers, right? This way the spirits can talk to us.’

‘Spirits? You mean ghosts?’

‘It’s all the same. Look, it’s a game. Just a game. Do you want to play or shall I tell mom you haven’t done your homework?’

Okay, okay,’ mumbled Luke. ‘Don’t give me a hard time.’

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AUTHOR Bio and Links

Stephen Leather is one of the UK’s most successful thriller writers, an eBook and Sunday Times bestseller and author of the critically acclaimed Dan “Spider’ Shepherd series and the Jack Nightingale supernatural detective novels.

Before becoming a novelist he was a journalist for more than ten years on newspapers such as The Times, the Daily Mirror, the Glasgow Herald, the Daily Mail and the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong. He is one of the country’s most successful eBook authors and his eBooks have topped the Amazon Kindle charts in the UK and the US. In 2011 alone he sold more than 500,000 eBooks and was voted by The Bookseller magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the UK publishing world.

Born in Manchester, he began writing full time in 1992. His bestsellers have been translated into fifteen languages. He has also written for television shows such as London’s Burning, The Knock and the BBC’s Murder in Mind series and two of his books, The Stretch and The Bombmaker, were filmed for TV. You can find out more from his website http://www.stephenleather.com and you can follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/stephenleather

Jack Nightingale has his own website at www.jacknightingale.com

You can buy New York Night on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/New-York-Night-Nightingale-Supernatural-ebook/dp/B017T03500/

You can buy New York Night on Kobo at https://store.kobobooks.com/en-ca/ebook/new-york-night-the-7th-jack-nightingale-novel

You can buy New York Night on iBooks at https://itunes.apple.com/gb/book/new-york-night-7th-jack-nightingale/id1057762247

You can buy New York Night at Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/591862

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RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY

Stephen Leather will be awarding a $50 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour, and a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn host.

Enter to win a $50 Amazon/BN GC – a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here:  http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2016/01/nbtm-new-york-night-by-stephen-leather.html

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Interview With….

Stephen, thanks for being my guest today. Tell us about you.
I have a pilot’s licence, but I don’t really like flying! I did learn how to paraglide (where you fly a parachute with a huge fan on your back) but that was even less fun. I have jumped out of planes four times. The first three times were with the RAF’s display team which meant climbing out onto the wing of a biplane and jumping off. It was a long time ago! But here’s the thing. I have a real fear of heights and almost never use lifts (elevators, as the Americans call them). My publisher used to be based on the 22nd floor of a tower block. I used to walk up the stairs rather than use the lift! I have been stuck in lifts four times in my life so my fears are not groundless!

If you could hang out with one famous person for one day, who would it be and why?
Living or dead? If dead, I’d choose Jesus. I have so many questions for him. If living, Stephen Hawking. Again, I have so many questions and frankly I find his black hole book more confusing each time I read it.

What’s the story behind your latest book?
New York Night is the seventh book in the Jack Nightingale supernatural detective series. The first five were published by my UK publisher Hodder and Stoughton and were set in the UK. I am now self-publishing the books and have moved the character to the United States. The first self-published book was San Francisco Night and the next one will be Miami Night. In the latest book, teenagers in New York are being possessed and turning into sadistic murderers. Priests can’t help, nor can psychiatrists. So who is behind the demonic possessions? Jack Nightingale is called in to investigate, and finds his own soul is on the line.

What is your writing process?
I sit in front of the TV with my Mac on a coffee table. I watch TV as I write and always have done. It helps when I need to describe a character’s clothing and the credits are always a good source of names! I drink a cup of coffee pretty much every half hour and my cat (one of three) Peanut Butter sits on the sofa next to me to keep me company.

Tell us about your main character:
Jack Nightingale as a cop who was sacked after a man he was interviewing was thrown through a window and fell to his death. No one knew for sure if the man had jumped or if Nightingale had pushed him, but it was the end of his police career. He became a private detective, and just before his thirty-third birthday he is told that his father was a Satanist and that he sold Jack’s soul to a devil. On his birthday, the devil is coming to collect the prize. That’s the first book, in which Jack has to find a way of saving his soul – by the time we get to New York Night he is much more familiar with the supernatural world. He travels from city to city fighting the forces of darkness while keeping his own soul safe. Jack smokes too much (so much so that when I’m writing I feel like having a cigarette even thought I’m not a smoker! He has a good sense of humour and often says things that make me laugh out loud!

If your book was to be turned into a movie, who would play the lead role and why.
I’m lucky in that at the moment Martin Campbell (Goldeneye, Casino Royale) is directing the movie of my book The Chinaman. The hero of the title is played by Jackie Chan and the IRA villain by Pierce Brosnan. How cool is that? For Jack Nightingale, I think I’d like to see him played by Benedict Cumberbatch. He’s the perfect age!

What are you working on next?
I am working on the 13th Dan ‘Spider’ Shepherd book, Dark Forces. Shepherd is up against a Syrian sniper who travels to England to carry out a terrorist atrocity.

What advice do you have for other writers who want to get the word out about their book?
Concentrate on your writing and the readers will seek you out. There’s nothing worse than a writer clamouring for attention, especially on social media. Best to concentrate on producing the best books you can. I wouldn’t bother with Twitter – everyone seems to be shouting and no one is listening – but have an informative and interesting web page and Facebook page. And have an email list that fans can sign up for – that way you are sending information to readers who are genuinely interested in hearing from you! And always respond personally. If a fan has made the effort of contacting you, the least you can do is reply!

What is your favorite book on your shelf right now?
A book on lock-picking. I am teaching myself to pick locks.

Do you have any special/extraordinary talents?
I’m usually good at predicting the future based on what is happening in the present. I think that comes from spending so much time plotting books. I can usually see when out politicians are making mistakes, and can predict what will happen when things go wrong!

You are given the choice of one super power. What super power would you have and why?
Time travel, backwards and forwards. It would answer all those questions I need answering. I would love to see how much of our beliefs about our universe are true. I’m not sure I believe in the Big Bang, for instance. Or that the universe is expanding. I figure time travel would provide the answers!

List 5 things on your bucket list:

• Go dog-sledding in Alaska
• Ride a camel across the safari
• Fly a helicopter
• Bob-sleigh down the Cresta Run
• Climb Everest

I’m pretty sure I’ll get around to the first three at some point!

Where can readers find you on the web? My website is www.stephenleather.com and I am often on my Facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/stephenleatherofficial – where I am happy to talk to readers!

Any final thoughts?
If you’re a reader, keep reading. And if you’re a writer, keep writing!