Posted in #BookTours

Dead Man’s Trigger

Posted on by BookReviews

Dead Man’s Trigger: A Max Maguire Vampire Novel
Kat Huddleston
Publication date: October 5th 2026
Genres: Adult, Urban Fantasy

Who Knew Immortality Could Be So Short?

When high school history teacher Max Maguire begins to suspect one of his brightest students is in trouble, he ends up walking down the wrong alley. Suddenly, he’s staring down the fangs of a beautiful, powerful, and utterly merciless vampire named Jade.

As Max’s life takes a dark turn he’s forced to learn how to survive in Jade’s twisted world. But if Jade thinks her hostage is going to play nice, she really should have read his resume. This former Special Forces sniper might just have to dust off some very lethal muscle memory.

While Max plots exactly how to kill the most dangerous predator on the planet, he discovers there’s another group of vampires that have their own plans for Jade. Before he knows it, Max is caught in the crosshairs of a vampire war that neither side can afford to lose.

And there’s one thing neither side knows… Max has a secret of his own.

CONTENT WARNING: This is NOT a romance. The novel contains mature content intended for readers 18 and older. This is a gritty, fast-paced genre hybrid combining vampires with dark urban fantasy, tactical military thriller action, and sarcastic humor, with a wisecracking protagonist at its center. There is explicit sexual material, including non-consensual sex, graphic violence, torture, adult themes, and visceral horror elements. In other words, my vampires don’t sparkle.

Goodreads / Amazon

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EXCERPT:

Max Maguire just got a brutal lesson from his captor, Jade, after his arm was exposed to the sun. He’s left burned and sick. The only one who can help him is the vampire who hurt him.

Max faded in and out of consciousness for hours, as the pain from his arm and the demands from his hunger took turns pounding through him like two enormous drums vying for attention. When he felt the sun leave the sky, the hunger reared up.

He tried to sit up, but his body started to shake. He felt like he was going to die, even though he figured a vampire wouldn’t die from a little sunburn. But he didn’t have any control over his body and every time he moved or touched his arm, pain seared through him. Eventually he stopped trying to get up or move and decided to wait it out. And suddenly there she was, Jade, looking down on him like an angel… or at least an angel from hell.

“What’s wrong with me?” Max asked.

“It’s sun poisoning. You’ll feel better after a bite.”

He closed his eyes as his body began to shake again. Max knew that she could bring him one of his former students at that moment and he’d kill them. His body would take over, the desire ripping right through his heart. And just as Max was focusing every ounce of his being on hating Jade, she sat down on the bed next to him and pulled him into her arms. Tenderly, almost lovingly, she rocked him like a mother would a sick child.

“It’s going to be okay. Drink me, Max,” she said.

He looked up at her surprised. Jade laughed.

She leaned down to kiss him on the forehead and then turned her head to the side, exposing her neck for him. Max’s body took over and in an instant he wrapped his hands around her and crushed her into his body, his fangs sinking into her neck. His mind went blank as he drank her deep and hard, extreme pain mingling with intense pleasure driving his senses to places he’d never been before. Better yet, he could feel her pleasure in his act.

When his mind came back to him, Max kept waiting for her to push him away, but she didn’t. When he finally stopped, he lay back wiping the blood from his mouth. She watched him with her cobalt blue eyes, like a curious cat wondering what he might do next. She’d gone from being pink and warm to pale and cool.

“Do you feel better?” she asked.

Max nodded. “Thank you.” It was a kind of twisted logic that would have him thank her for helping him considering she hurt him in the first place. Regardless he’d go with it. He had to make Jade believe she owned him body and soul, and there was no time to start like the present.

He was still in some pain, but Max felt much, much better. He rolled over to look at her, resting his head on his good arm. “You’re beautiful.”

“And you’re an idiot.”

“Okay,” he said.

“When I was holding your hand, you could have twisted out of the sun. You could have screamed, begged me to stop. Any number of things. But you didn’t. You just endured the pain. Why?”

“If I had done those things, would you have stopped sooner?”

“Probably not,” Jade said.

“Maybe I was trying to impress you.”

“I don’t think so.”

“And what do you think?”

“I think… you weren’t going to let me beat you.”

“You’ve already beaten me,” Max said as he played with her long, blonde hair rubbing a strand over his lips.

Jade laughed and shook her head. “Not yet. But I will… Do you want to continue with lessons on the Saracen Lance?”

“Sure. Why not?”

“Why is more like it.”

“I don’t think learning how to handle myself in this environment will hurt me.”

“It might not help you either… You’re a very interesting former human. Not always too bright though.”

“Somehow I don’t think being bright is a requirement for this job.” Max let his eyes run down the length of her body. She was wearing the T-shirt and jeans from earlier. He really wanted to take them off.

Jade touched his chest and her power flowed through him like an electric current. “I suppose not.” Jade pushed him onto his back and Max stopped talking. He didn’t want to think any more. He just wanted to let the feeling of her power flow through him. At that moment he didn’t even have the energy to hate her.

Author Bio:

Kat Huddleston has never met a perfectly ordinary day she couldn’t improve with a vampire, a monster, or an alien invasion.

The result is Dead Man’s Trigger, the first book in her Max Maguire Vampire series, about a former Special Forces sniper turned high school history teacher turned vampire. He has military training, a talent for sarcasm, and a complicated relationship with being dead. Or is it undead?

Kat likes her supernatural creatures intelligent, her heroes complex, and her humor dark. Her vampires don’t sparkle.

A Chicago-based writer, teacher, and award-winning artist, Kat spent a couple of decades writing about sci-fi TV and movies for the Syfy Channel’s website and Sci Fi Magazine. She’s also written short stories and screenplays, taught fused glass, and created artwork that can be found in several galleries. Occasionally, she pretends she can concentrate on one thing at a time.

When she’s not writing, painting, or melting glass in the name of art, Kat lives with her two cats, Jax and Nicky. They provide moral support, quality control, and unsolicited keyboard supervision. So far, neither has offered to help with marketing.

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Posted in #History

Wrigley Field: The Long Life and Contentious Times of the Friendly Confines

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“One of the best books ever written about the Cubs, their home and the fans who flock there to watch them, win or lose.”—Rolling Stone

In spring 1914, a new ballpark opened in Chicago. Hastily constructed after epic political maneuvering around the city’s and organized baseball’s hierarchies, the new Weeghman Park (named after its builder, fast-food magnate Charley Weeghman) was home to the Federal Leagues Chicago Whales. The park would soon be known as Wrigley Field, one of the most emblematic and controversial baseball stadiums in America.

In this book, Stuart Shea provides a detailed and colorful chronicle of this living historic landmark and shows how the stadium has evolved to meet the shifting priorities of its owners and changing demands of its fans. While Wrigley Field today seems irreplaceable, we learn that from game one it has been the subject of endless debates over its future, its design, and its place in the neighborhood it calls home. To some, it is a hallowed piece of baseball history; to others, an icon of mismanagement and ineptitude. Shea deftly navigates the highs and lows, breaking through myths and rumors, in a book packed with facts, stories, and surprises that will captivate even the most fair-weather fan. From big money (the Ricketts family paid $900 million for the team and stadium in 2009), to exploding hot dog carts, to the curse-inducing goat, Shea uncovers the heart of the stadium’s history.

“More than any other American institution, baseball most wholeheartedly welcomes half-baked history and curdled lore. It’s fun, after all; what grinch wishes to poke at the tale of Babe Ruth’s called shot? But more often than not the real stories are even more delicious, and no one has gathered more of them than author Stuart Shea. His book is an unceasing delight.”—John Thorn, official historian, Major League Baseball and author of Baseball in the Garden of Eden


Editorial Reviews

Review

“Most ballpark books are like junk food―hundreds of empty calories of glossy photos and told-a-million-times anecdotes. They sate your appetite briefly without feeding your brain. But Stuart Shea’s Wrigley Field is a Thanksgiving feast for baseball fans. The book is saturated with culture and passion, flavor and spice, all lovingly created by a master chef. This is history to be savored: a winning combination of intimate knowledge, amazing detail, relevant context, and expert storytelling.” ― Gary Gillette, editor of The Baseball Encyclopedia

“Amid Wrigley Field’s birthday revels much will be reported about its vines, its scoreboard, its goat, its very origin—much of it not quite so. More than any other American institution, baseball most wholeheartedly welcomes half-baked history and curdled lore. It’s fun, after all; what grinch wishes to poke at the tale of Babe Ruth’s called shot? But more often than not the real stories are even more delicious, and no one has gathered more of them than author Stuart Shea. His book is an unceasing delight.” ― John Thorn, official historian, Major League Baseball and author of Baseball in the Garden of Eden

“Unlike any other venue, Wrigley Field has been a second home for generations of fans, a paragon of modern convenience turned baseball’s ultimate wayback machine, a status symbol for social climbers and corporate muscle alike. Shea’s book is the perfect history of the place that reflects Chicago’s past and future, its failures and its aspirations.” ― Christina Kahrl, cofounder of Baseball Prospectus

“One of the best books ever written about the Cubs, their home and the fans who flock there to watch them, win or lose.” ― Rolling Stone

“The 448-page book is packed with colorful anecdotes that are sure to keep any Chicago history buff or baseball fan—yes, even those who root for the South Side White Sox (or ‘Pale Hose,’ as Shea notes they are nicknamed)—glued to their bleacher seat.” ― Wrigleyville Nation

“You should read this book because of the history of wonderful stories and anecdotes about the team’s and the ballpark’s history, some of which is ‘contentious,’ as Shea’s title states, some of which is just colorful and fun, just as is the history of the neighborhood and city in which it resides.” ― Bleed Cubbie Blue

“Wrigley Field: The Long Life & Contentious Times of the Friendly Confines is a great reminder of what makes the ballpark so special, and why the Cubs remain so popular.” ― The Writer’s Journey

“Stuart Shea’s Wrigley Field: The Long Life and Contentious Times of the Friendly Confines deserves the location of honor on the nightstand of each and every Cubs fan, to be read a chapter or two at a time between Opening Day and the World Series.” ― Chicago Tribune

“Home of the Cubs, world’s greatest ballpark, Chicago’s largest beer garden, bucket list-worthy tourist attraction, field of (broken) dreams, enduring monument to enduring failure―Wrigley Field is all of these things, and of course so much more. Stuart Shea’s witty, informative, and deeply entertaining book gives the Friendly Confines the tribute it deserves.” — Dan Epstein, author of Big Hair and Plastic Grass: A Funky Ride Through Baseball and America in the Swinging ’70s

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Posted in Cozy Mysteries

Assault and Batter (Donut Shop Mysteries Book 11)

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From Jessica Beck, the New York Times Bestselling Author of The Donut Mysteries, The Classic Diner Mysteries, and The Ghost Cat Mysteries.

ASSAULT AND BATTER, Book 11 in the Donut Mystery Series!

When Emily Hargraves tells Suzanne that she’s marrying Max, her ex-husband, Suzanne is happy enough for her, but when Jude Williams, one of Emily’s old flames, decides to light the ceremony up, someone decides to extinguish his flame before he can act. Was it Max, the groom-to-be; Peter, his best man; Lisa, the woman Jude had been dating; her jealous husband, Frank; or perhaps it was Reggie Nance, a man who had reasons of his own to want to see Jude dead? Suzanne and Grace must act quickly and solve the murder before someone else ends up missing the reception, permanently.

Praise for the Donut Mysteries by New York Times Bestselling Author Jessica Beck

“A delight. Suzanne Hart is a lovable amateur sleuth who has a hilariously protective mother and great donut recipes! Readers will have a blast with this book.” —Diane Mott Davidson, New York Times bestselling author of Fatally Flaky

“If you like donuts—and who doesn’t?—you’ll love this mystery. It’s like a trip to your favorite coffee shop, but without the calories!” —Leslie Meier, author of the Lucy Stone mysteries New Year’s Eve Murder and Wedding Day Murder

“The perfect comfort read: a delicious murder, a likeable heroine, quirky Southern characters—and donut recipes!” —Rhys Bowen, Agatha and Anthony award–winning author of the Molly Murphy and Royal Spyness mysteries

“A tribute to comfort food and to the comfort of small town life. With great donut recipes!”—JoAnna Carl, author of The Chocolate Cupid Killings

“A yummy new treat in the culinary mystery genre. Skillfully weaving donut recipes throughout a well-plotted story, the author proves that life after divorce can be sweet; all you need are good friends, your own business, and comfort food. Delicious!”—Tamar Myers, author of Death of a Rug Lord and The Cane Mutiny

“A cleverly plotted cozy mystery with a wonderful small Southern town…Fatally Frosted is a great follow-up to Glazed Murder. Suzanne is a great heroine, Ms. Beck has a sure-fire winner!”—Fresh Fiction

“Along with the hilarious plot, author Jessica Beck treats the readers to a few recipes strategically placed within the novel. Sinister Sprinkles will keep you guessing until the very end.”—The Mystery Librarian

“A sugary concoction that provides readers a glimpse through the donut hole of living in a small town.”—Harriet Klausner, Genre Go Round Reviews

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Posted in #History

Autumn Glory: Baseball’s First World Series

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A suspenseful account of the glorious days more than a century ago when our national madness began, the first Major League Baseball World Series.
A post-season series of games to establish supremacy in the major leagues was not inevitable in the baseball world. But in 1903 the owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates (in the well-established National League) challenged the Boston Americans (in the upstart American League) to a play-off, which he was sure his team would win. They didn’t—and that wasn’t the only surprise during what became the first World Series. In Autumn Glory, Louis P. Masur tells the riveting story of two agonizing weeks in which the stars blew it, unknown players stole the show, hysterical fans got into the act, and umpires had to hold on for dear life.

Before and even during the 1903 season, it had seemed that baseball might succumb to the forces that had been splintering the sport for decades: owners’ greed, players’ rowdyism, fans’ unrest. Yet baseball prevailed, and Masur tells the equally dramatic story of how it did so, in a country preoccupied with labor strife and big-business ruthlessness, and anxious about the welfare of those crowding into cities such as Pittsburgh and Boston (which in themselves offered competing versions of the American dream) .
His colorful history of how the first World Series consolidated baseball’s hold on the American imagination makes us see what one sportswriter meant when he wrote at the time, “Baseball is the melting pot at a boil, the most democratic sport in the world.” All in all, Masur believes, it still is.


Editorial Reviews

Review

“This is a book that every baseball fan will enjoy. History-minded Americans will love it, too. It’s a marvelous look at the Americans of 1903. What a great way to celebrate the one-hundredth anniversary of the World Series!”
–Thomas Fleming, author of The New Dealers’ War: F.D.R. and the War Within World War II

“Autumn Glory is a book to be savored in all seasons. Louis Masur vividly recreates a bygone year not only of immortals such as Cy Young, but also of forgotten diamond heroes with monikers such as Ginger Beaumont, Kitty Bransfield, and Noodles Hahn; a time when players rode to the stadium through cheering throngs in open barouches, and when, inning after inning, derby-hatted, cigar-smoking fans waved red parasols and belted out music-hall ballads until their throats were raw.”
–William E. Leuchtenburg, William Rand Kenan, Jr. Professor Emeritus, University of North Carolina

“Louis Masur’s Autumn Glory is the best researched and most eloquent account of the first World Series yet written. He provides ample evidence why the first modern fall classic became a beloved American tradition.”
–Glenn Stout, co-author of Red Sox Century

“Autumn Glory brings one back to those halcyon days when players and owners alike eschewed money for honor, and when Boston actually used to win the World Series. An invaluable resource for all fans of the game.”
–Kevin Baker, author of Paradise Alley

“As the World Series turns a hundred years old this year, I can think of no better way to celebrate than reading Autumn Glory. Louis Masur drops us back a full century to relive the first World Series, and in his hands the games lose none of their excitement and flavor. The era comes vibrantly alive in this wonderful baseball book.”
–Jules Tygiel, author of Past Time: Baseball as History

“In a perfect world, there would be a book this good about every World Series.”
s20–Rob Neyer, author of Feeding the Green Monster

From the Inside Flap

“Autumn Glory is a book to be savored in all seasons. Louis Masur vividly recreates a bygone year not only of immortals such as Cy Young, but also of forgotten diamond heroes with monikers such as Ginger Beaumont, Kitty Bransfield, and Noodles Hahn; a time when players rode to the stadium through cheering throngs in open barouches, and when, inning after inning, derby-hatted, cigar-smoking fans waved red parasols and belted out music-hall ballads until their throats were raw.”
William E. Leuchtenburg, William Rand Kenan, Jr. Professor Emeritus, University of North Carolina

“In a perfect world, there would be a book this good about every World Series.”
Rob Neyer, author of Feeding the Green Monster

“Autumn Glory brings one back to those halcyon days when players and owners alike eschewed money for honor, and when Boston actually used to win the World Series. An invaluable resource for all fans of the game.”
Kevin Baker, author of Paradise Alley

“As the World Series turns a hundred years old this year, I can think of no better way to celebrate than reading Autumn Glory. Louis Masur drops us back a full century to relive the first World Series, and in his hands the games lose none of their excitement and flavor. The era comes vibrantly alive in this wonderful baseball book.”
Jules Tygiel, author of Past Time: Baseball as History

“Louis Masur s Autumn Glory is the best researched and most eloquent account of the first World Series yet written. He provides ample evidence why the first modern fall classic became a beloved American tradition.”
Glenn Stout, co-author of Red Sox Century

“This is a book that every baseball fan will enjoy. History-minded Americans will love it, too. It s a marvelous look at the Americans of 1903. What a great way to celebrate the one-hundredth anniversary of the World Series!”
Thomas Fleming, author of The New Dealers War: F.D.R. and the War Within World War II

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Posted in #Anthology

Lagos Noir (Akashic Noir)

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“A stellar cast of award-winning Nigerian authors . . . a must-read for crime lovers looking for something different.”—Brittle Paper

In Akashic Books’s acclaimed series of original noir anthologies, each book comprises all new stories set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the respective city. Now, West Africa enters the Noir Series arena, meticulously edited by one of Nigeria’s best-known authors.
In Lagos Noir, the stories are set in “a city of more than 21 million and an amazing amalgam of wealth, poverty, corruption, humor, bravery, and tragedy. Abani and a dozen other contributors tell stories that are both unique to Lagos and universal in their humanity . . . This entry stands as one of the strongest recent additions to Akashic’s popular noir series” (Publishers Weekly, starred review, pick of the week).
The anthology includes stories by Chris Abani, Nnedi Okorafor, E.C. Osondu, Jude Dibia, Chika Unigwe, A. Igoni Barrett, Sarah Ladipo Manyika, Adebola Rayo, Onyinye Ihezukwu, Uche Okonkwo, Wale Lawal, ‘Pemi Aguda, and Leye Adenle.
“The beauty of this book, which contains 13 stories from Nigerian writers, is that it serves as a travelogue, too.”—Bloomberg, “The Darkest Summer Reading List for Those Bright, Beachy Days”
“With writers like Igoni Barrett, Leye Adenle, and E.C. Osondu contributing, Lagos Noir offers wildly different perspectives on both the city itself and the state of noir fiction. This book is almost like a world in itself, one that you’ll want to dive back into and get lost in again and again.”—CrimeReads, “One of the 10 Best Crime Anthologies of 2018”


Editorial Reviews

Review

“A not-to-be-missed fiction anthology edited by Chris Abani, Lagos Noir features Nigeria’s most compelling writers on the darker side of Lagos. A must-read for literary fans of all kinds.”
― The Root

“Noir comes to Africa . . . [Don’t] think for a minute that Lagos has a corner on African noir. Akashic has Addis Ababa, Nairobi, Accra, and Marrakech waiting in the wings.”
― Kirkus Reviews

“There is . . . greed, innocence, ambition, and all the trappings that make crime stories so engaging. The Lagos angle is as educating and eye-opening as it is engaging, quickly encouraging the reader to side with any protagonist, no matter how shady, because they’re still better than the corruption all around them. Well, most of the time.”
― Manhattan Book Review

“This volume is a must, as it introduces new writers of considerable talent and new works by writers you may have read and enjoyed previously . . . If you just like good stories about ordinary people with an extraordinary twist, this collection should not be missed.”
― New York Journal of Books

“In the introduction to this excellent anthology, Abani welcomes readers to Lagos, Nigeria, a city of more than 21 million and an amazing amalgam of wealth, poverty, corruption, humor, bravery, and tragedy. Abani and a dozen other contributors tell stories that are both unique to Lagos and universal in their humanity . . . This entry stands as one of the strongest recent additions to Akashic’s popular noir series.”
― Publishers Weekly, Starred Review, Pick of the Week

About the Author

Chris Abani, a Nigerian-born, award-winning poet and novelist, currently teaches at Northwestern University in Chicago. He is the recipient of a PEN USA Freedom-to-Write Award, a Prince Claus Award, a Lannan Literary Fellowship, a California Book Award, a Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, a PEN Beyond Margins Award, a PEN/Hemingway Award, and a Guggenheim Award.

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