February 7, 2013

Virtual Book Tour: Byzantine Gold by Chris Karlsen




Welcome to the Goddess Fish Virtual Book Tour for Byzantine Gold by Chris Karlsen! Chris will award one randomly drawn commenter at every stop an ebook copy of Golden Chariot, and one randomly drawn commenter will be awarded a $50 Amazon gift card during the tour. SO make sure after you check out her book, you leave a comment for Chris!



A sunken warship from the Byzantine Era carrying an unusual cargo of gold has been found off the coast of Northern Cyprus. News of the valuable cache has attracted the attention of a terrorist cell. They plan to attack the recovery team’s campsite and steal the artifacts. On the Black Market, the sale of the relics will buy them additional weapons.

Charlotte Dashiell, an American archaeologist, and her lover, Atakan Vadim, a Turkish government agent, are scheduled to be part of the recovery team that brings up the artifacts. While en route to Cyprus, they find themselves caught in the crosshairs of Maksym Tischenko, a Ukrainian contract killer bent on revenge. Charlotte, Atakan and Tischenko share a grim history. As a result, Tischenko is a man who will stop at nothing to achieve his goal—seeing them both dead.


Atakan didn’t answer as he sped out of camp, spraying dirt and stones behind them.

“What’s going on? Why are you in such a hurry?”

He stared straight ahead, silent.

“Atakan?”

Tight-jawed, he continued down the side road that paralleled the beach, ramming the stick shift into place as he went through the gears and ignoring her questions. She’d never seen him this tense, not with her at least. A bad feeling crept over her. She had a sick sense his mood involved her plan to leave.

They’d gone a kilometer from the camp when he came to a stop. He hopped out, slammed the driver’s door shut and came to her side.

Opening her door, he said, “Get out.”

She did.

“Atakan,” Charlotte started to ask the same questions again, but he was already turned and walking toward the sea.

She followed. He finally stopped near the water’s edge with his back to the surf and faced her. She stopped a couple of yards away.

“When were you going to tell me?”

She knew exactly what he was asking about. Who told him? It wasn’t Nick. He’d honor the twenty-four hour rule.

“Who told you?”

“That’s not an answer.” He stood still as a statue, arms crossed, feet apart.

She hesitated, trying to choose her words so he’d understand and not be hurt. She gazed out at the incoming tide. The blue-green waves, effervescent with bubbles, rushed toward shore in rapid succession. White foam droplets filled the air as they crested, framing him like a new, angry version of Poseidon.

“Answer me.”

“Today.”

“You weren’t going to tell me until today, although you’ve been planning to leave me for awhile.”

“Not awhile.”

“Long enough to send job inquiries to several museums.”

So that was how he knew. One of the museums contacted MIAR and they must’ve sent the questionnaire to Refik and he told Atakan. She hadn’t considered the possibility. She’d thought any contact from the museums would be handled by MIAR’s headquarters.

“I’m so sorry you had to find out this way. I intended to tell you if it looked like I’d definitely leave. If none of the museums showed interest, then you never had to know what I’d done.”

“And you believe that is acceptable?”

It killed her to see the look of disgust on his face with the question. “Yes...” she said low.

“Why?”

“Because I’m bad luck for you—everyone can see it, even your--, it’s obvious. There’s something about me, and God knows, I don’t know what, but I’m like a magnet for Tischenko.”

She never cried and she wouldn’t cry now, but she was close. “I can’t bear to see you hurt again, or worse. There are people that bad luck follows, even Iskender thinks so.”

Atakan inhaled deeply and let out a slow breath. Uncrossing his arms, he closed the short distance to where she stood.

“It’s not forever,” she offered, “I’ll return.”

He shook his head. “If you go, you cannot return. You’re either in my life or out of my life. There’s no in between.”






Chris is a retired police detective. She spent twenty-five years in the law enforcement with two different agencies.

The daughter of a history professor and a voracious reader, she grew up with a love for history and books.

She has traveled extensively throughout Europe, the Near East, and Northern Africa satisfying her passion for seeing the places she read about.

A Chicago native, Chris has lived in Paris, Los Angeles, and now resides with her husband, and five rescue dogs in the Pacific Northwest.

 http://chriskarlsen.com/ 

 http://pinterest.com/chriskarlsen/byzantine-gold/



15 comments:

Mary Preston said...

I loved the trailer thank you!!

I could go some of that treasure.

marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com

Unknown said...

Thanks for the trailer and excerpt. It sounds like a great retirement writing adventure novels

fencingromein at hotmail dot com

Gala said...

Great trailer!
I love journals but mostly do my writing on my computer. How about you, are you still using a paper notebook for notes or writing stories down?

galaschick78 at gmail dot com

Chris Karlsen said...

Hello,
I want to thank Sarah Grimm for showcasing Byzantine Gold today. I look forward to talking with everyone.
Chris Karlsen

Chris Karlsen said...

Hi Mary,

Thank you, I'm glad you liked the trailer. I agree, the treasure is pretty tempting:)
Chris

Chris Karlsen said...

Hi Shannon,
I am enjoying retirement and love that I can finally write. I don't have to worry about making a living at it. I am happy to have the time now to just tell stories:)
Chris

Chris Karlsen said...

Hi Gala,
I write on the computer, if I'm at home. When I'm traveling, I carry a yellow legal pad and write notes down. I do keep a legal pad on my desk as I write. If I need to jot something down to check later. I also run lists on the pad. For instance, when I was looking at various Turkish or Ukranian names for Golden Chariot and Byzantine Gold, I wrote several I liked and their meaning. After I compiled the suitable list, I picked.
Chris

Jibriel said...

Oh,very nice, the sea looks very tempting :)

jibriel.o(at)web(dot)de

Chris Karlsen said...

HI Jibriel,
Yes, the waters in that region are lovely. Stunning views.
CHris

Lena said...

Is this the last book in this series?

lennascloud at gmail dot com

Chris Karlsen said...

Hi Ami,

I'd love to turn it into an audio book as well. I am not sure if my publisher plans that at the moment. Maybe down the road.
Chris

Chris Karlsen said...

Hi Lena,
I'd like to do at least one more. I'm pretty sure I will start a third in late summer or early fall.
I want to build a book around Charlotte's brother, Nick, and Atakan's friend and co-agent, Iskender. I'm hoping to find a case they can work together in Turkey.
Chris

bn100 said...

I enjoyed the excerpt.

bn100candg(at)hotmail(dot)com

Chris Karlsen said...

Hi bn,
Thank you. Nice to talk to you again.
Chris

Anonymous said...

How wonderful to be doing what you love, which is writing in your retirement.

strive4bst(At) yahoo(Dot) com