Not By Blood
By: Chris Narozny
ISBN: 9781639103331
Publisher: Crooked Lane
Publication Date: 07/18/2022
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: TBR (ARC)
In the tradition of Harlan Coben and Karin Slaughter comes Chris Narozny’s Not by Blood, a tense and twisty debut thriller about the extraordinary measures one woman will take to save her family.
When Tina Evans gets a call from her brother in the middle of the night, she doesn’t think much of it; she’s been fielding distress calls from Bill for the last twenty years, ever since the day their father killed their mother.
At first, this call seems just like all the others: Bill’s holed up in a Brooklyn drug den and needs her to come rescue him. But when Tina gets there, her brother’s nowhere to be found. Instead, she discovers the body of a private detective hidden in the junk heap out back. He’s been shot to death, and his gun is missing from its holster.
Tina’s about to dial 911 when she receives a three-letter text message from a number she doesn’t recognize: “Shh...”
Tina doesn’t believe in coincidence—the death of this detective and her brother’s disappearance must be related. But how? Could it be her father pulling the strings from his prison cell? And is she willing to risk her own freedom—and her life—to uncover the truth?
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Praise
“Chris Narozny ratchets up the tension one agonizing notch at a time in this psychological thriller about trauma, addiction, and memory. In a world of secrets lurking just beyond reach, EMT Tina Evans must face an array of personal demons, including her own broken family. Not By Blood reads like a midnight ride in a speeding ambulance, where your life is on the line and the most dangerous people may be the ones closest to home.”
—Christopher Swann, award-winning author of A Fire in the Night and the Faulkner Family series
“Utterly compulsive and brilliantly plotted, this tale of sibling loyalty and deadly family secrets digs in its claws on page one and doesn’t let go. An adrenaline-fueled, nerve-shredding thrill ride.”
—Heather Chavez, author of No Bad Deed, Blood Will Tell, And Before She Finds Me
“With an unflinching look at addiction and the aftermath of trauma, Narozny’s debut thriller is dark, tense, and will keep you guessing through to a perfectly crafted ending—one where every seemingly loose end suddenly falls solidly into place. This is sure to be one of the best debuts of the year.”
—Edwin Hill, author of The Secrets We Share
About the Author
Chris is a critically-acclaimed writer who has co-authored four New York Times bestsellers with James Patterson: "Night Sniper," a novella anthologized in The Family Lawyer; the true-crime thrillers Murder, Interrupted and Murder Beyond the Grave, which served as tie-ins with an ID Network series; and the novel Three Women Disappear. Most recently, he wrote a novelization of Richard Connell’s classic short story “A Dangerous Game” for Milo Ventimiglia and Divide Pictures, and a comic-crime novel titled Last Supper for MadRiver Pictures.
In addition to his work as co-author and ghostwriter, Chris has published successful novels of his own, including Jonah Man, told from the perspective of struggling vaudevillians at the turn of the 20th century, and The Exiled, an upmarket thriller whose setting alternates between New York City and rural New Mexico. Kirkus described The Exiled as “edgy and satisfying,” and said that “a sequel would be most welcome.” Publishers Weekly gave Jonah Man a starred review and called the novel “A classic whodunit ripe with spare, snappy prose and riddled with period language… a show-stopper that deserves a standing ovation.”
Chris holds an MFA in Fiction from Syracuse University and a Ph.D. in Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Denver. He has taught creative writing and literature at both private and public colleges, and has written, presented, and published numerous academic papers and articles. Before returning to graduate school, he worked as an in-house development editor for McGraw-Hill Higher Education, helping academic authors shape their manuscripts for the college-textbook market.
As a ghostwriter, Chris’s sole objective is to realize his client’s vision. Having written everything from mass-market thrillers to literary novels and academic papers, he prides himself on his ability to adapt to a given genre or voice.
Chris has lived in Normandy, Paris, and Brooklyn, and currently resides in Denver with his wife, the author Nina Shope. WEBSITE
