Eyes Closed Tight by Peter Leonard

Genres: Crime, Murder, Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Florida, Detroit

Formats: Paperback, Kindle, Nook

Number of pages: 300 pages

Publisher: Story Plant, The

Publishing date: March 4, 2014

Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.

Language: English

ASIN: B00FO81YSA

ISBN-10: 1611881145

ISBN-13: 978-1611881141

Purchase links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble

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AMAZON BOOK BLURB

O'Clair is a former Detroit homicide investigator who now owns a motel in Pompano Beach, Florida in his retirement. He runs the place with his much younger girlfriend, Virginia, who's a knockout and can fix anything. One morning, he’s cleaning up after the previous night’s partiers when he sees a lovely young woman stretched out asleep on a lounge chair. He shakes her gently. Then he touches her neck and feels for a pulse. There isn't one. Her skin is cold, body starting to stiffen, definitely in the early stages of rigor.

When a second girl is murdered, O'Clair knows someone is trying to send him a message. The way the girls are killed reminds O'Clair of a case he investigated years earlier. Now convinced the Pompano murders are related, O'Clair returns to Detroit Police Homicide to review the murder file and try to figure out what he might have missed.

And when Virginia is kidnapped by the killer, the stakes grow exponentially higher.

The most powerful work to date by one of the most thrilling suspense novelists of our time, EYES CLOSED TIGHT is relentless, surprising, and deeply satisfying.
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REVIEW
Pompano Beach, Florida. Beautiful nice, hot weather, blue ocean vistas, shorts and tops, endless sandy beaches, long cool drinks, good company, delicious sea food. You get it, right?

No, actually, you don't! Forty-five year old Oak O'Claire was happy in his retirement from the Detroit Police Force, managing Pirate’s Cove, the motel he bought on the beach front. His personal life couldn't get better with the beautiful twenty-six year old Virginia at his side who knew more about maintenance than he could ever learn. Their life was perfect, until a young blond woman is discovered in one of his deck chairs on the beach. Then another body is found. This time he knows the victim and the modus operandi reminds him of a murder case he handled fifteen years before. Once a detective...

The plot gets messy, the drama escalates, the reader gets edgy and nervous, especially being part of the psyhco killer's plans, embedded in his brain, knowing exactly what he is going to do and nobody can stop him...

A highly entertaining murder mystery! Yes, it will keep you fidgeting in your chair, never leaving the story for one second, trying to find excuses to read. I almost got myself into trouble today, thanks to this book. And of course, as with a good suspense crime drama, nothing is what it seems to be. There is an interesting twist. The murderer is known to the reader, or so I thought. It is a cat and mouse game with the reader being the willing mouse in this ingenious plot! Oh, you have no idea how willing!

All the good characters are believable and lovable. No over-indulgence in heroics, unrealistic perfect human beings, or potty-mouth verbal diarrhea to pollute a perfect story. No clichés. Fast moving, never a dull moment. The title is so applicable! Just thinking about it sends my arteries on a shivering cruise down my spine! I hyperventilate.

Eyes Closed Tight is destined for release in March 2014. I rate it five stars for being a tasteful, exciting, light, easy read. However, do not make a mistake, this is a THRILLER! I don't think I want to close my eyes ever again!

If you need a quick, exciting holiday, read this book. Believe me, it works!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Peter Leonard lives in Birmingham, Michigan with his wife and four children. He is a partner in the ad agency Leonard, Mayer & Tocco, Inc.

More about the author can be found on his website: http://peterleonardbooks.com/

Leonard, a 1974 Eastern Michigan graduate, is the son of renowned Detroit native and crime writer Elmore Leonard, known for his 45 novels and screenplays, many of them featuring gritty, street-wise Detroit characters.

Peter Leonard, an Eastern Michigan graduate, has five books to his name. (Photo by Bill Schwab, courtesy of Leonard's website)

Now the author of five novels, Peter Leonard has made a name for himself. During a 2012 interview with CNN's Ann O'Neill, Leonard said, his  "first effort,Invasion, had 37 characters, no hero and no publisher." After a total rewrite, his efforts ended in his second book, "Trust Me."

Peter Leonard followed in his father's footsteps by writing ads for 20 years, but his life changed, thanks to a creative writing class.  When his father read one of his first stories, which ran only six pages, Leonard senior said, "Your characters are like strips of leather drying in the sun. They all look and sound the same." Did the criticism affect him? Only for 27 years, Peter told CNN's O'Neill.

Leonard doesn't view himself as a crime writer, although he admits his writing has been influenced by such writers as John D. McDonald, Ernest Hemingway, Robert Parker and James Lee Burke.

On Peter Leonard's website, popular crime writer Carl Hiaasen, who's also known for his shady characters, said, "Elmore Leonard is a tough act to follow, but son Peter is off to a terrific start... Clearly great storytelling runs in the Leonard family DNA."

Leonard's advice for beginning writers is simple, something his dad, Elmore, drilled into him: "Writers are set apart from others because they believe that real life is, 'a story ripe for plunder.' You can't make this stuff up." ( SOURCE )

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