THE COACH'S WIFE
by Barbara Casey
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GENRE: Fiction/Mystery/Suspense
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BLURB:
The Cinderella Coyotes of State University are in the Final Four, poised to
win the NCAA National Championship in basketball—the culmination of March
Madness. For Marla Conners, she's proud of her husband Neal, and his
achievement of coaching a collegiate team to the pinnacle of his career and
the ultimate victory for his team. Yet, Marla's idyllic life is about to be
viciously attacked and torn apart by a different madness—her husband's
reputation ruined, a university disgraced, and she finds herself on trial
accused of first-degree murder.
The Coach’s Wife is rife with spine-tingling suspense, conspiracy, deceit, and murder, sizzling and seductive passion, right down to the last second buzzer-beating heroics. This is also a candid and vivid behind-the-scenes portrait of Division One college basketball, university politics, money and corruption, and all the lives that are blessed and ruined by it all.
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EXCERPT
Ray Knox pulled the collar on his coat up tighter around his neck and ears and
shoved his hands deep into his pockets. He cursed under his breath when he saw a
group of drunks, probably Seawolf fans, coming his way. It was too dark to see
who they were, but if they were Seawolfers, he was sure they would recognize him
if they saw him. And even if they were blind drunk, they would wonder what in
the hell he was doing hanging out in a service entrance doorway of the coliseum
at three o’clock in the morning. Christ. That was all he needed. He pushed his
back against the cold metal door as far as he could hoping he wouldn’t be seen.
The five men burst into an off-key rendition of the Piedmont State Fight Song
and staggered past the doorway, oblivious of the cold and of him. One of the men
tossed an empty beer can onto the pavement, creating even more racket. Knox
listened to it roll several yards until it finally stopped and then heard the
pop and hissing sound of another can being opened.
Christ it was cold. A blast of frigid air whistled around the door frame. He
cursed again. At Morgan for getting him into this situation and at himself for
doing it. This had to be the low point in Knox’s career. Hanging out in darkened
doorways in the middle of the night waiting to make a pay-off. To make it even
worse, the guy he was supposed to meet was late. He had told Knox 2:30. Unless
Knox got the directions mixed up. But the guy had said the service entrance on
the east side of the coliseum. And that’s where the hell he was. Freezing his
ass off and dodging drunken Seawolf fans so he wouldn’t be seen.
Knox pulled out a wadded up handkerchief from his hip pocket and wiped his nose.
He was probably getting sick. Morgan was going to make up for this big time if
he expected Knox to keep doing his dirty work for him. No more cheap presents or
token salary increases. Shit, he had enough TVs and cameras and electronic
gadgets. Cheap toys from Morgan. He wanted some big money—security for when he
decided to retire. And the way he was feeling now, he was ready to retire.
Knox heard footsteps, the empty beer can being kicked, and someone—a man—cuss.
Knox leaned out slightly from the doorway and peered into the darkness. He
smelled him—the rancid odor of nervous sweat—before he saw him.
“You got something for me, heh?”
Barbara Casey is the author of several award-winning novels for both adults and
young adults, as well as book-length works of nonfiction true crime, and
numerous articles, poems, and short stories. Her nonfiction true crime book,
Kathryn Kelly: The Moll behind Machine Gun Kelly, has been optioned for a major
film and television series. Her nonfiction book, Assata Shakur: A 20th Century
Escaped Slave, is under contract for a major film. In addition to her own
writing, she is an editorial consultant and president of the Barbara Casey
Agency. Established in 1995, she represents authors throughout the United
States, Great Britain, Canada, and Japan. Barbara is also a partner in Strategic
Media Books Publishing, an independent publishing house that specializes in
cutting-edge adult nonfiction. Barbara lives on a mountain in Georgia with her
three cats who adopted her: Homer, a southern bobtail; Reese, a black cat; and
Earl Gray, a gray cat and Reese’s best friend.
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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION
Barbara Casey will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn commenter.
Thank you for hosting today!
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DeleteThank you for your interest in THE COACH'S WIFE and for hosting me. I appreciate your time and look forward to visiting with you and your bloggers. In case you are interested, Amazon is running a special on both the print and Kindle books today. All best. ~Barbara
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