All this week, Written Words is publishing excerpts from books by fellow author-members of the Jet and Lei Crime Kindle worlds. Today, enjoy this taste of Claude Bouchard’s Jet novella, Nasty in Nice.
Maya had been on her return trip to the apartment, grocery bag in hand, when she had seen two young men shove two women into an alley a hundred feet ahead of her. Accelerating her pace to a run, she’d reached the alley in seconds, setting her bag down and peering around the corner just in time to see one man flying over the tall redhead’s back and knocking over one of his accomplices.
When he returned to his feet and pulled out a gun, Maya knew it was time to get involved. Taking two steps back, she then sprinted into the alley, heading directly for the wall of the far building. Her momentum carrying her, she ran a couple of steps up the wall and pushed off, flipping over the rear thug and the two women to land with both feet into the leader’s chest. As he went down, his pistol clattering down the alley and his head smashing against the cobblestones with a sickening thud, she rolled and was up on her feet facing his closest accomplice.
“Give it your best shot,” she challenged him, akin to a wild feline, ready to pounce.
“This evens things up now, doesn’t it?” said Leslie, turning to the remaining man behind her as Dominique moved out of the way, pressing herself against the wall.
“I’ll use this if I have to,” the punk threatened, the tremor in his voice belying his words.
Leslie smiled as she moved in on him and said, “You’d better not miss because once I get that knife from you, I’m going to cut your balls off and shove them down your throat.”
Weaponless, she suddenly lunged at him and he screamed in fear, dropping his switchblade as he turned and bolted out of the alley.
Leslie rushed forward to make sure he was gone then scooped up the blade and turned back to where the woman was still facing off with the remaining hood, his back conveniently to her. Without hesitation, she ran forward and leapt into the air, executing a spinning wheel kick, knocking the man sideways into the wall headfirst before he crumpled to the ground.
“Assholes,” the woman muttered as she relaxed her stance and smiled at Leslie. “Thanks for that.”
“Thank you for your help,” Leslie replied as they stepped away from the three thugs, two out cold and the other now propped up on one elbow, looking dazed. “That was quite an entrance you made.”
“It was amazing,” Dominique agreed as they backed out of the alley.
“Years of practice,” said the woman, picking up her bag before looking at Leslie. “You obviously can hold your own too.”
“Years of practice,” Leslie replied as they moved away from the alley.
“Would you really have cut that guy’s balls off?” the woman asked with a grin.
“Damned straight,” Leslie confirmed, “Though it turns out the little puke didn’t have any.”
The woman laughed and stopped as they reached a cross street with heavier foot traffic. “I’m up here so I’ll wish you ladies a safe and pleasant evening.”
“You too, and thanks again,” said Leslie, extending her hand. “I’m Leslie, by the way, and this is Dominique.”
The woman looked Leslie in the eye as she took her hand then replied, “I’m Maya. A pleasure to meet you.”
About Nasty in Nice
Some believe there is no such thing as coincidence… But there is.
Four months of peace and tranquility have gone by since the last attempt on their lives, leaving Maya and Matt increasingly confident their enemies are truly part of the past, their biggest worry, deciding their next destination as they travel Europe with three year old Hannah.
Vacationing in Paris with her long-distance partner, Dominique, Canadian operative, Leslie Robb is thrilled to receive a call from friend and colleague, Chris Barry, inviting the two women to join him and his wife at a lavish rented villa in Nice.
On the Deep Web, a covert meeting takes place, twelve of the world’s most efficient assassins, brought together to eliminate Maya and Matt, once and for all.
As the dozen killers begin their quest to locate their targets, a chance encounter takes place in Nice, turning the quasi-guaranteed biggest payday of their careers into their biggest nightmare.
About the author
USA TODAY bestselling author Claude Bouchard was born in Montreal, Canada, at a very young age, where he still resides with his spouse, Joanne, under the watchful eye of Krystalle and Midnight, two black females of the feline persuasion.
In a former life, he completed his studies at McGill University and worked in various management capacities for a handful of firms over countless years. From there, considering his extensive background in human resources and finance, it was a logical leap in his career path to stay home and write crime thrillers.His first stab at writing fiction was actually in 1995, the result being his first novel, Vigilante. Two others of the same series followed by 1997 but all three remained dormant until publication in 2009.
Since, besides writing Asylum, a stand-alone, the Vigilante series has grown to eleven thrilling installments including his latest release, Sins in the Sun. Two of his novels were included in the pair of blockbuster Killer Thriller anthologies, the second of which made the USA Today Bestsellers list in March 2014. Claude has also penned Something’s Cooking, a faux-erotica parody and cookbook under the pseudonyms Réal E. Hotte and Dasha Sugah.Other interests, besides writing and subtly persuading people to buy his books, include reading, making noise with his six guitars, painting in oil and watercolour, creating gastronomical delights in the kitchen and on the grill, traveling and planning to exercise. He has also recently developed an increased interest in remote control quad-copter flying and sleeping though never simultaneously.You can visit his website at claudebouchardbooks.com which has often been described as comparable to DisneyLand without the rides.
About Amazon Kindle Worlds
Kindle Worlds is an Amazon initiative that allows authors to publish stories set in another author’s fictional universe. The Jet Kindle World is based on the character Jet, created by bestselling author Russell Blake.
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I always enjoy reading excerpts from a new novel. This one sounds exciting with loads of action and its nice to know more about Claude. I also retired from my real world occupation to write. Now I don’t know how I had time to work.
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Well done artclie that. I’ll make sure to use it wisely.
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From the excerpt this sound like a fascinating and action packed read. I look forward to reading more.
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Exciting writing – well paced. If I could find a spare moment, I’d enjoy reading more. Thanks for sharing.
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Interesting read! I love POWER CHICKS, as you must know. Although, funny… I wrote POSER chicks at first. Accidental? I think not.
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If you like powerful chicks, then take a look at this review for my Lei Crime novella, Torn Roots: ” I particulary appreciated the two strong women portrayed. I’m not usually into romantic adventures, but I already liked the woman who fell in love in this book because she was far more complex than a lot of those who find themselves lost in love. She had a life of her own and she was actively engaged in activities she was passionate about (namely activism) before she reconnected with a man she’d known before. His love of Hawaii and his dedication to his scientific research there made him a very likeable character. His nerdiness and her often obstinate character created a ying and yang relationship.”
http://www.amazon.com/The-Lei-Crime-Series-Novella-ebook/product-reviews/B012PK5HJ6/ref=cm_cr_dp_qt_see_all_top?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=byRankDescending
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Great stuff, thanks for sharing!