by Terrance Mc Arthur

Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win an ebook copy of the book and a link to purchase it.

Dubai. New York City. Lexington, Kentucky. The Tallest Building in the World. Luxurious suites in five-star hotels. The Kentucky Derby. Lurking gangsters. Perfidious terrorists. Kidnappings. Bombs. Murder. A secret weapon. A helpful cat. And—believe it or not—Klingons.

You’ll find all of that in Out of Time, Cathi Stoler’s follow-up to the Nick Donahue mystery novella Nick of Time. Stoler even includes a visit to NYC’s The Corner Lounge, the setting for her Murder on the Rocks Mysteries.

Nick is a professional gambler who ends up in dangerous situations when he’s around Marina DiPietro, his love interest, a former MI6 agent who runs her own investigative firm.

Nick tags along when Marina is hired by Adnan bin Haddad, an ultra-rich Middle Eastern industrialist. The job: protect his string of racehorses—including a Kentucky Derby hopeful—from extortionists. This seems evil enough, but the twists and turns of this plot include dangling Nick 2,000 feet in the air, and a device that could put the entire world in peril.

Stoler knows how to ramp up the danger in her stories, putting her good guys and gals in jeopardy, double jeopardy, and ramping up the peril until it reaches Final Jeopardy! However, it’s not all fun and danger. Nick and Marina have a strong romance going, and Nick is known for smarting off at the mouth. Sometimes it gets him out of a jam. Sometimes it gets him into one.

The author’s travels have enriched the story’s locales, and the characters have characteristics that give them depth beyond the usual heroes and villains. Nick doesn’t always win a fight, but he isn’t always a hapless punching bag, either.

Out of Time is a quick read that knows where it’s going and delivers thrills and laughter. Stoler controls the narrative with a style that moves the story and the reader. It’s a trip worth taking.

You can click here to purchase this book.

To enter to win an ebook copy of Out of Time, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “time” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen May 25, 2024. U.S. residents only, and you must be 18 or older to enter. You can read our privacy statement here if you like.

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Terrance V. Mc Arthur worked for the Fresno County Public Library for three decades. He is retired, but not retiring. A storyteller, puppeteer, writer, actor, magician, basketmaker, and all-around interesting person, his goal is to make life more unusual for everyone he meets.

Disclosure: This post contains links to an affiliate program, for which we receive a few cents if you make purchases. KRL also receives free copies of most of the books that it reviews, that are provided in exchange for an honest review of the book.