About The Book
Book: Fragments of Fear
Author: Carrie Stuart Parks
Genre: Suspense
Release date: July 23, 2019
From award-winning author Carrie Stuart Parks comes a new novel with danger that reaches from a New Mexico Anasazi archaeological dig to micro- and nano-chip technology.
Evelyn Yvonne McTavish — Tavish to her friends — had her almost perfect world in Albuquerque, New Mexico, come to a crashing end with the suicide of her fiancé. As she struggles to put her life back together and make a living from her art, she’s given the news that her dog is about to be destroyed at the dog pound. Except she doesn’t own a dog. The shelter is adamant that the microchip embedded in the canine-with her name and address-makes it hers.
Tavish recognizes the dog as one owned by an archaeologist named Pat Caron because she did a commissioned drawing of the two of them months earlier. The simple solution is to return the dog to his owner, but she arrives only to discover Caron’s murdered body.
After meeting undercover FBI agent Sawyer Price the mystery deepens as more people start disappearing and Tavish becomes a target as well. Her only solution is to find the links between microchip technology, an Anasazi site in the desert, her fiancé’s death, a late-night radio show, and the dog. And the clock is ticking.
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About The Author
Carrie Stuart Parks is a Christy finalist as well as a Carol Award-winning author. She has won numerous awards for her fine art as well. An internationally known forensic artist, she travels with her husband, Rick, across the US and Canada teaching courses in forensic art to law-enforcement professionals. The author/illustrator of numerous books on drawing and painting, Carrie continues to create dramatic watercolors from her studio in the mountains of Idaho.
More from Carrie
Using Art to Solve Crime: Techniques Used by Forensic Artists
Since 1981, I’ve been a forensic artist—an amazing feat since I’m only . . .um. . . well, younger than that. In those years, I’ve seen some shifts and trends, but some things have never changed. Despite the overwhelming prevalence of computers in almost every other field, they have never been able to replace a trained forensic artist. Artists have an amazing toolbox of techniques we use to gather the information we need to help solve crime.
- The pencil. Any forensic artist worth her weight in graphite knows the power of the lowly pencil and a sketchpad. Law enforcement would love a photographic image of the suspect, but all we have to work with is memory…and memory is faulty. The more the image looks perfect, the more imperfect it is for helping to identify a suspect. We want the drawing to just suggest a likeness and eliminate those not similar.
- Now that we brought up the subject of memory, a forensic artist needs to understand how memory works. The average witness will remember between four and five facial features. When they describe the person they saw, they will do so from their strongest memory to their weakest memory, from most important to least important. We listen carefully to the order of facial features.
- Whole vs Parts. We don’t look at faces as individual parts, although a particularly outstanding nose or Marty Feldman eyes might catch our attention. We will remember the face as a whole, with the proportions of the face an unacknowledged part of that. Forensic artist prefer to use reference photographs where the whole face is viewed.
Want more? Check out the rest of my article at The Strand Magazine
My Impressions:
I am a big fan of Carrie Stuart Parks. She always delivers great high-octane suspense! Her latest novel, Fragments of Fear, starts out fast and the action never lets up. I really liked main character, Tavish. She is wounded and quirky, with no real sense of who she really is. But throughout her ordeal she gains wisdom, confidence, and control of her life. She also grows spiritually, although she does has a long way to go in finding out Who she really believes in. If you love dogs, you will love the very present character of Marley — I loved her interactions and responses with Tavish. The third person point of view gives the reader insight into Tavish, as well as FBI agent/love interest, Sawyer Price. Yes, there are sparks that accompany the suspense. There is also a good bit of humor mixed in, giving Fragments of Fear almost a cozy mystery feel. But only almost — the bad guys are very bad. The New Mexico setting is vivid — I felt I was right there with Tavish.
I found Fragments of Fear to be a very quick read. I just couldn’t wait to find out whodunit! I am betting you won’t be able to put it down either.
Recommended.
Audience: adults.
(Thanks to Celebrate Lit for a complimentary copy. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)
Blog Stops
Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, July 23
All-of-a-kind Mom, July 23
Blogging With Carol, July 23
A Reader’s Brain, July 23
A Baker’s Perspective, July 24
The Avid Reader, July 24
CarpeDiem, July 24
Fiction Aficionado, July 25
Christian Bookaholic, July 25
Godly Book Reviews, July 25
Through the Fire Blogs, July 26
Livin’ Lit, July 26
The Becca Files, July 26
Inklings and notions , July 26
Real World Bible Study, July 27
Cathe Swanson, July 27
D’S QUILTS & BOOKS, July 27
For Him and My Family, July 28
Lights in a Dark World, July 28
Retrospective Spines, July 28
Bigreadersite, July 29
Simple Harvest Reads, July 29 (Guest post from Mindy Houng)
Mary Hake, July 29
Truth and Grace Homeschool Acdemy, July 30
Blossoms and Blessings, July 30
EmpowerMoms, July 30
Aryn The Libraryan, July 31
Stories Where Hope and Quirky Meet, July 31
For the Love of Literature, July 31
Inspired by fiction, August 1
Ashley’s Bookshelf, August 1
By The Book, August 1
Tell Tale Book Reviews, August 2
Remembrancy, August 2
amandainpa, August 2
Pause for Tales, August 3
For the Love of Books, August 3
Just Your Average reviews, August 3
Hallie Reads, August 4
A Good Book and Cup of Tea, August 4
Daysong Reflections, August 4
Little Homeschool on the Prairie, August 5
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, August 5
Texas Book-aholic, August 5
janicesbookreviews, August 5
Giveaway
To celebrate her tour, Carrie is giving away a grand prize of her book!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
https://promosimple.com/ps/e592/fragments-of-fear-celebration-tour-giveaway
Sounds like a book for my ever-growing TBR. Can’t wait to read. Thank you for sharing about it.
Wonderful review! Thank you for being part of the tour.