R u ready?
It began with a text.
A cryptic message received on the sex app—SWIPE.
A random question delivered specifically to one select user going by the screen name Dickie.
The only picture accompanying the eerie text was of an existence lived twenty-five years ago in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
An innocent black-and-white photo of a past life better left forgotten.
William ‘Billy’ Blakely had it all. Intelligence, good looks, youthful ambition, and currently serving as the District Attorney of the 23rd Judicial Circuit in Madison County, Huntsville, Alabama. Billy Blakely was the GOP hopeful, the fast-track political outsider gaining national attention in a high-stake senatorial race for party dominance. All bets were on Billy Blakely to win the election in a landslide vote and become the next Senator-elect representing Alabama in Washington, DC.
Until an ambiguous text message popped up on a popular sex app and quickly morphed Billy’s ideal life into a sinister and deadly game. Unraveling a chain of events so scandalous, the ‘breaking story’ could cost Billy everything, obliterating his exemplary twenty-some-year career as a political up-and-comer, tarnish his pristine reputation as a District Attorney, and ruin his picture-perfect marriage.
What darkness lurks in the heart of William ‘Billy’ Blakely, and why would anybody ever want to uncover it?
Especially since nobody survived it.
Or did they?
#textme… but you might regret it!
DOUGLAS WICKARD is the Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo eBook bestselling author of the SAMI SAXTON series, and the DAN HAMMER FBI DETECTIVE series. #textme is Wickard’s 10th novel, a political, psychological, thriller exploring the proliferation of political corruption running rampant in our government today, a current hot topic trending daily on social media and the news, particularly with midterm elections right around the corner.
Douglas has a social media following in the thousands on Goodreads, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook and is active in the self-promotion of all his novels. His author’s page for reference: douglaswickardbooks.com
Harvey Klinger represented DOUGLAS WICKARD’S first novel, A PERFECT HUSBAND in 2011. A small eBook publisher out of San Francisco—UNTREED READS—optioned the novel with a release date of January 2012. A PERFECT HUSBAND hit the eBook bestselling charts within a few months of publication and remained an International eBook bestseller for several years, garnering BEST SUSPENSE—Book-of-the-Month—GOODREADS, October 2012.
“Wickard’s novel colorfully illuminates the two synchronized protagonists, each displaying profound characteristics: Sami has trouble adjusting to her new life and Smitty balances his secret life with his normal one, with a (living) wife and infant daughter at home.” ~ Kirkus ~ A PERFECT HUSBAND
MY THOUGHTS
First let me say that I have read and loved a few of Douglas Wickard's books. He's an excellent author. His Sami Saxton series is the best. They are on Kindle Unlimited now. I believe all four of them.
This book is a bit different in that it's a political thriller. A thriller that takes you from Tuscaloosa, AL to Huntsville, AL and through the starting career of William "Billy" Blakely who is a sure win for the AL Republican senate seat previously vacated. He married his college sweetheart and they had a son. They lived in Tuscaloosa where he started his career as the Assistant DA. Then he became the DA of Alabama. His father in law helped him in every way possible. He was the son he always wanted. That ended in a suicide. So horrible, so sad. Billy moved to Huntsville where he and his second wife and two daughters lived in a very nice home and he was running for the senate seat.
William "Billy" Blakely had it all. He was popular. He was charismatic. He was smart. He was not a good man. What secrets does Billy have? What will we find out about this almost perfect man? Who can bring Billy to his knees before he goes on to win. Or is this all "fake news?" Could Billy have done the things he is blamed for? Who is the stranger that is out to ruin him?
This book takes you into Billy's life. His good and bad. The ups and downs of a politician’s life. His wife and daughters are out there for the world to get to know. His life is perfect. Until it's not. Billy needs to account for a few things. His like for young teens. His like for a sex app. His sexcapades if you will. Maybe even murder. Is it possible? Of course it's possible but the main question is... Did Billy do all he's accused of doing or is it someone trying to derail his political career? Is he being set up by lies and deceits? And if so who would do such a thing?
The ending had me in tears. A lot of this book made me have tears. A lot made me mad also. Very angry at things that happened. It's a well written book that still has to go to a publisher before it can go any further. I am honored that the author let me have this copy to read/review. And wanted to know my thoughts and any other input. I'm sure he will make a few changes but overall it's truly a great book. From start to finish.
A political thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat in parts and grinding your teeth in others. I had a few guesses as to what was going on, or who was doing the texting, but I was wrong. I even thought about the one it was but pushed that thought aside quickly. It's one that will keep you turning the pages.
Thank you Douglas Wickard for entrusting me with this unfinished novel. It's a big 5/5 stars from me.
Publication date unknown as of now but when it's available I will let it be known. You don't want to miss this one. Even though it's a political thriller it's not solely political. You get much more than just politics...
This book sounds so good! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteIt was very good.
Delete