DEAD END - Susan Sleeman - One Free Book

Welcome back, Susan. How did this book come about?

I wanted to do a series featuring a private forensic lab that handled forensics for difficult law enforcement investigations. The Truth Seekers series features a team of scientists at a very difficult time in their lives when something comes to light making them question truths they’d always known. I surely had to include a character who handled trace evidence, so Sierra’s character was born and so was Dead End.

Tell us about the book’s cover and what makes it unique.

Sierra is featured with Reed on the cover and that makes it unique, but also a skyline is in the background holds a building that resembles the fictional Veritas Center.

Please explain and differentiate between what’s fact and fiction in the book.

The characters are fictional as is the plot and lab, but the science behind the forensics is very real and used in forensic labs today. The FBI procedures are real as well.

How much research did you have to do for this book?

I get a forensic newsletter every day, and I save articles that I think will work well in a book. So when I’m plotting a book I just have to find that article in my file. Sometimes I have to research the subject in more depth, but already having the basic information gives me a good start. And I have law enforcement sources that I can go to check out my law enforcement procedures.

I like that. One thing I do in my books is make everything except my characters and their story as authentic as I can, too. What are some of the most interesting things you found about this subject that you weren’t able to use in the story?

Actually, I used everything I found.  J

What inspired and surprised you while you were writing the book?

I am always inspired by the work that forensic scientists do with trace evidence. It’s simply amazing to me the information they can gain from the minutest sample of trace evidence. I guess what surprised me is how fast trace evidence processing is advancing and how much these scientists can do help solve an investigation.

What do you hope the reader takes away from the story?

I hope readers will see through Sierra’s struggle that we need to rely on God instead of ourselves.

What is the next project you’re working on?

I am currently writing Dead Center which is book five in the Truth Seekers series. This story features Grady, the Vertitas Center’s weapons expert and Ainslie, the forensic photographer. I am enjoying learning about guns and the forensics involved with them. The book has an unexpected surprise that I can’t share as it would be a spoiler, but I found it very interesting.

I love it when we find something that most people don’t know to share with out readers in a story. What do you do when you have to get away from the story for a while? 

If you mean a few minutes in the day, I do the dishes, clean house, do laundry, etc. I also put a book aside for at least a week when it is finished, and then come back to it with fresh eyes. During this time, I work on another book.

Please give us the first page of the book.

“He’s not my father? What do you mean?” Sierra gaped at her mother seated at the bedside of the man she’d called father for thirty-two years, but now? Who was her real father?

“I…I…” Tears filled her mother’s eyes, and she clutched her hands in her lap, while she tried to compose herself.

“It’s my fault, sweetie,” her father said from his hospital bed. As a retired Multnomah County Deputy, he was still in good shape and very active, but his face and lips were pale today, his energy non-existent as he waited for a kidney transplant. “I didn’t want you to know. I thought it might change our relationship.”

“And I agreed because your dad married me when I was pregnant and alone.” Sierra’s mother took his hand. “He’s been an excellent father to you, and we’ve both been blessed since the day he came into our lives.”

“How…I…this…” Thoughts whirled through Sierra’s head. Spinning. Rushing. Taking her down. She collapsed on a hard chair and blinked. Over and over again.

This made no sense.

She lifted her gaze to the pair who felt like strangers. This man and woman who had raised her. Cared for her. Loved her.

Lied to her.

How can readers find you on the Internet?

To learn more about my books sign up for my monthly email that includes exclusive excerpts, giveaways, and other goodies. http://www.susansleeman.com/susans-newsletter/   

Or stop by any of these locations on the web.
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Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/Susan-Sleeman/e/B003ANF6Z8
Review Site - http://www.TheSuspenseZone.com

Thank you, Susan, for sharing this series with us. I'm eagerly awaiting my copy so I can read it.

Readers, here are links to the book.

Dead End: (Truth Seekers Book 3)
Dead End: (Truth Seekers Book 3)

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