Trainwreck By Michele Micheal Rakes
Author Name: Michele Micheal Rakes
Book Name: Trainwreck
Series: Trainwreck
Book: One
Release Date: January 25, 2016
Blurb:
Detective Sergeant Vincent Sweetwater hates dead bodies. That’s why he’s an undercover narc and not a homicide dick. So why is he standing on a sandy beach in California staring at a lifeless body—oh yeah, the suicide attempt. Lieutenant Hanson is making a statement. Something about life worth living. Shows what he knows.
As Vince examines the tortured body, he feels an empathy and déjà vu for the victim, her wounds are similar to scars he has only a vague memory receiving. An intense desire to find her killer fills his queasy belly as a dark game of cat and mouse begins.
The young woman’s death forces Vince back into a secret life dominated by sex, perversion, and sadomasochism. Estranged from his wife he still loves and longing for the man who possessed him once, Vince buries his torment deep inside meaningless sex.
*Warning: This book contains adult content and situations. NOT FOR THE SQUEAMISH.
Pages or Words: 374 pages
Categories: BDSM, Bisexual, Crime Fiction, Erotica, Fiction, Gay Fiction, M/M Romance, Ménage/Poly, Romance, Thriller
Excerpt:
Vince grabbed the remote and clicked on the news. He paid little attention as he rubbed his aching hip. When Lola Romero began her news report he glanced up to see an official photo of himself in uniform.
“Jesus, talk about an old fucking picture.”
Despite being only twenty-three in the photo, he hadn’t appeared young and fresh faced. His eyes had held a kind of darkness even then, and his best efforts were unable to hide the pain.
“An L.A.P.D. Information officer confirmed the return to duty of Detective Vincent Sweetwater just one week after a horrifying display of violence toward a man who was reportedly beating his five-year-old son in the parking lot of a Home Depot in Inglewood. Detective Sweetwater was nearly killed last year in a motorcycle accident on the Pacific Coast Highway and is still under scrutiny following alleged misconduct while under deep cover with the narcotics division.”
“Bite me, Lola.” Vince shut off the TV, flopping back on the bed, staring into the darkness.
“Fuck my life. It was more than a year ago. Bitch.”
I hate people.
Interview:
Today I’m very lucky to be interviewing Michele Micheal “Mikey” Rakes, author of Trainwreck the series.
Hi Mikey, thank you for agreeing to this interview. Tell us a little about yourself, your background, and your current book.
You mean all the boring bits of me? I’m a Washingtonian by birth. The eruption of Mt. St. Helen’s in 1980 was visible from my front yard and was my most intense experience with Mother Nature. Nine years old at the time, I stood in my front yard thinking it looked like a nuclear bomb had gone off. This huge mushroom cloud went up in the air and for a moment I thought it was Mt. Rainier, which was a lot closer and when it blows, it’ll wipe out our little town. I’m mentioning this because today, in our neck of the woods, is a momentous day: the anniversary of Helen’s blowing her top.
Believe it or not, folks around here still take the time to remember the ash and dust, the stories of who lost their lives. “Vancouver! Vancouver! This is it!” The last communique from the volcanologist observing Mt. St. Helen’s during her activity leading up to her eruption is a sound I’ll never forget. David Alexander Johnston was five miles away and now Johnston Ridge Observatory, built in his honor, is one of my favorite places to go ride my Harley. The ape caves and the lava tube tunnels in the area are fun places to explore and learn. Not to sound like a travel guide, but this is a wonderful state to see some amazing things.
As I stood on my front lawn, as a kid, watching the mountain blow off steam and rock, I thought about the old man who refused to leave his home. Just a kid, I’d been angry because he had all these cats, and wouldn’t leave the mountain. I’m a cat person. Guess, I’m still a little miffed, but hell, that was thirty-six years ago. What I took from Helen’s, is what an awesome force of energy exists in nature, and as people we are powerless against it. Doesn’t mean we can’t admire the beauty of our world around us.
Sorry, you wanted to hear about me or my book. I’m shifting gears now. Trainwreck is a dark crime thriller with an unlikely romance at its heart. LAPD detective Vincent Sweetwater is a wreck of a man living with his estranged wife, Lieutenant Mica Sweetwater, after he botched his suicide attempt six months after the death of their daughter. After years of therapy, physical and otherwise, Vince finds himself returning to life and work, albeit reluctantly. His return to work thrusts him back into a dark world he hid from his family and after a killer who may be someone from his childhood. Someone who hurt him badly and is now killing young women. Wading through the deaths of these girls, battling his survivor’s guilt over his daughter, and his desire to tell his wife about his true dark sexual nature, Vince also longs for the man who helped him feel the pain he so desperately needed. A man who no longer wants him, but Vince realizes too late that he might just love Greg Dunne.
Trainwreck is a crime thriller and a polyamorous romance with dark elements and sadomasochistic themes. Not a book for the squeamish, but if you like twisted psychological thrillers and ménage, then this is a book for you.
- What’s the easiest thing about writing?
The easiest thing for me is creating the characters and getting into their heads. They live with me constantly. I’m never without a notebook because they’re constantly talking to me and I’m always working on problem solving the story. The unfortunate part, is I’m never in a situation where I can’t do anything but jot down the notes for later. I work at my day job for twelve hours a day, here lately, for six days a week.
Even for the minor characters I create a whole backstory in my head in order to give them purpose and perhaps motivation to do whatever deed it is I need from them. For me, the characters are the driving force of the novel. By placing my characters in situations that are troublesome I can see how they deal with pressure, so then I know what I can throw at them down the road.
- Name one author (living or dead) you’d like to write with?
Agatha Christie. She was an amazing and brilliant woman. I’d love to tour Egypt with her, and have tea in her apartment in Bagdad, before it became a war zone. Since I could first read, I had a love of Egypt and Agatha Christie. I wanted to grow up and write fantastical murder mysteries just like her, but now I’m older and a bit darker. I do write, but instead of ensemble murder mysteries, I write crime thrillers with a twisted edge, probably not something she’d be interested in writing.
- Tell us about your cover and how it came about.
My friend, Dan Skinner, is a brilliant photographer and one day I saw the image that is now on the cover. I knew it was perfect. The man in the shadows that has a hold of man in the forefront works so many levels. Is it the mysterious dominant lover from Vince’s past, or the man who haunts his dreams from his childhood? I love the mystery the image conveys.
So, once I got the image from Dan, I gave it to another friend of my mine, Drai Bearwomyn. I told her I wanted just a simple, yet dark over. I explained to her concerning a symbol from the book, one that eventually becomes a tattoo for Vince, Greg, and Mica: the interlinked symbols for male and female. Drai made it up for me and I loved it. We decided to make sure it was on each cover and that’s how we’d tie them together since I wasn’t using a tagline. I wanted the cover dark and eye-catching in its simplicity.
- Is this book part of a series? Do you have ideas that could make it into a series? If it is a series, tell us a little about it.
Yes, Trainwreck is a part of a series. The first two books are out. I’m currently editing the third one for release in a few weeks. Books four and five, the last two installments, are with my editor now. The entire series will be released this year. The books are broken up to reveal Vince’s character arc. Book One is primarily mf, and in Book Two, we get some exposure to the mm aspect of Vince. Book Three? Ménage a trois? No spoilers, but like I said, I divided the books up to display the arc of the main character, Vincent Sweetwater and his road to redemption.
- Word association. Tell us the first thing that comes to mind when you read these words.
1 Ketchup
Fries.
2 Flakes
Frosted
3 Elastic
Band
4 Timer
Clock
5 Google
That shit!
Buy the book:
Meet the author:
Michele Micheal Rakes lives in a small town in the shadow of a big mountain and works as a surgical technologist assisting in the removal of tonsils and testicles. Three grown children, a one year old granddaughter named Thrasher, two psychotic Egyptian Mau’s, a husband with hair down to his knees, an Amazon for a wife, two Harley’s, and a ferret named Teeny Tiny Ferret Feet (husband insists her name Little Feet, we all know he’s wrong) life is gets pretty wild.
Note: Wife recently passed away from cancer and this book is dedicated in loving memory of Mary Louise Castleman. Love you babe!
Where to find the author:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/michelerakes1
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/michelemichealrakes
Twitter: @MicheleRakes
Blog: www.michelerakes.wordpress.com
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28644673-trainwreck
Publisher: Michele Micheal Rakes
Cover Artist: Drai Bearwomyn
Cover Photography by Dan Skinner
Editing: Tina Adamski
Tour Dates & Stops:
17-Feb
Book Lovers 4Ever, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words
24-Feb
Love Bytes, Mikky’s World of Books
2-Mar
Full Moon Dreaming, Man2ManTastic, Bonkers About Books, Bayou Book Junkie
9-Mar
BFD Book Blog, Velvet Panic, My Fiction Nook, Gay Media Reviews, The Novel Approach
16-Mar
Happily Ever Chapter, Hearts on Fire
23-Mar
Two Chicks Obsessed With Books and Eye Candy, Three Books Over The Rainbow
30-Mar
Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews, KathyMac Reviews
6-Apr
Havan Fellows, Jessie G. Books
13-Apr
Cathy Brockman Romances, Inked Rainbow Reads
20-Apr
Divine Magazine, Prism Book Alliance
27-Apr
4-May
11-May
18-May
25-May
1-Jun
Elisa – My Reviews and Ramblings
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