Christopher Parks's Blog
July 8, 2014
DEATH RAISE BOOK REVIEW FROM THE NY DAILY NEWS
I just wanted to share this awesome review from the Daily News for my novel Death Raise. Here's the link:
http://nydn.us/1n2sroI
It's written by The Mighty Quinn
http://nydn.us/1n2sroI
It's written by The Mighty Quinn
July 3, 2014
Death Raise is now a 2014 Kindle Book Awards Semi-Finalist!!
I'm humbled to share the news about my latest novel Death Raise making it through to the Semi-Final round of this year's Kindle Book Awards. Congrats to the other 19 Authors in the Thriller category. The top 5 will be announced on September 1st. Good Luck to all.
Find out more here: https://www.thekindlebookreview.net/2...
Find out more here: https://www.thekindlebookreview.net/2...
May 23, 2014
Review for Death Raise by Best Poker Blogger on the net
The following review was posted by RobsVegasPoker.Blogspot.com
"Death Raise" Raises the Stakes
Have you ever had a poker session where you came away feeling you got killed? Of course you have. You just had one of those sessions where everything went wrong, you seemed to end up with the second best hand time and time again. We all know how expensive that can be.
Or maybe it was just one hand. You were doing fine, maybe showing a nice profit, and you had the misfortune of having your dreaded pocket Kings run into pocket Aces, held by the only player at the table with a bigger stack than yours. You could say you got killed.
But getting “killed” at a poker table takes on a whole new meaning in the new novel by Christopher Parks I just read, Death Raise..
The book is a thriller with a very prevalent poker theme. It seems 10 people from around the country have been won an all expenses paid vacation to play in a very exclusive poker tournament being held on a remote island in a beautiful mansion somewhere in the Atlantic.
But the players obviously didn’t read the fine print when they signed up. After the first round of the tournament, the winner of that first round is handed a gun, and he is given three seconds to kill one of the other nine players. If he fails to shoot one of his fellow poker players, he himself will be shot to death.
Kind of brings a whole new meaning to the phrase “shootout tournament,” doesn’t it?
It is explained to them that this will happen every day until there is only one survivor. Yikes! Of course, there’s no escape from the island, though that doesn’t stop the remaining players from exploring avenues of escape.
So the novel is not really a “who done it?” but more of a “who is going to be done-in next?” And of course, then, the inevitable question of “why that person?”
Another way to look at would be to say it’s a cross between Agatha Christie’s classic “And Then There Were None” and the TV show Survivor. Only this is really the ultimate game of Survivor, isn’t it? You don’t get voted off the island. You get voted off this mortal coil.
High Stakes Poker? Yes, indeed, the highest stakes possible.
The book is a whole lot of fun. The characters are forced to make (very temporary) alliances and of course, there are double-deals, triple-deals, broken deals, back-biting, double-crosses, etc. Anything to survive.
All of the ten players had previously won some sort of poker tournament somewhere, so it is, at least on the surface, a fair fight. Or at least they all conceivable have a chance to win. None of them appear to be what you would likely call a professional poker player.
In fact, one of them mostly works as a Vegas stripper. If I may be so bold, I would suggest to the author that there might very well be another novel (a prequel, if you will) in the story of a stripper winning a Vegas poker tournament. I’m guessing she used the Jennifer Tilly effect to full advantage.
There are two other female players in addition to the stripper. All of the women are at least tempted to use their feminine wiles to their advantage. Which means, of course, that in addition to the “fun” of a nightly killing, there’s some sex in the story. All the players are forced to use all their skills, talents and intellectual abilities to figure out how to survive.
And of course, that means winning each night’s round of poker. Now, the poker is very much secondary here to the thrilling plot and all the deal-making and the attempts to find a weak spot in their captors’ well-designed prison. The fun is in the plot, the characters, the twists and turns. You never know who’s going to win each day, and who they will pick to kill, or why.
There’s also an intriguing sub-plot that takes place away from the island. How that plot figures into the main one (and trying to figure that out) is another fun element to the whole story.
The poker itself is not really the reason to read this entertaining book. It could really be any game, any kind of contest that involves both luck and skill. By using poker though, it is easy to explain how the mysterious powers that be would know that all their contestants had had poker success. In the book’s universe, the players are all no doubt all listed on Hendon Mob.
But in notes at the end of the book, the author indicates he got the idea for the book when he was the chip leader in a poker tournament in Atlantic City. Wow, that must have been some poker tournament. Actually, he said he was the chip leader at the final table but finished 7th (and no doubt is still pissed about that). I guess that would explain why he would want to shoot all the other players!
So the poker itself is just background. You will get no great insights to the game from reading the book. In fact, a lot of the action as described is rather bizarre and inexplicable. Some of that turns out to be due to the fact that the players are purposely playing to help other players, as part of their deals (yes, there’s definitely some collusion going on). Other times it’s harder to justify.
No matter, that’s not the point of the book. The fun is in the main story, the characters, the alliances, the double-crosses, and the all the action that ensues as a result. The book definitely works as a thriller.
For a fun, quick read, I do recommend Death Raise, whether you play poker or not.
"Death Raise" Raises the Stakes
Have you ever had a poker session where you came away feeling you got killed? Of course you have. You just had one of those sessions where everything went wrong, you seemed to end up with the second best hand time and time again. We all know how expensive that can be.
Or maybe it was just one hand. You were doing fine, maybe showing a nice profit, and you had the misfortune of having your dreaded pocket Kings run into pocket Aces, held by the only player at the table with a bigger stack than yours. You could say you got killed.
But getting “killed” at a poker table takes on a whole new meaning in the new novel by Christopher Parks I just read, Death Raise..
The book is a thriller with a very prevalent poker theme. It seems 10 people from around the country have been won an all expenses paid vacation to play in a very exclusive poker tournament being held on a remote island in a beautiful mansion somewhere in the Atlantic.
But the players obviously didn’t read the fine print when they signed up. After the first round of the tournament, the winner of that first round is handed a gun, and he is given three seconds to kill one of the other nine players. If he fails to shoot one of his fellow poker players, he himself will be shot to death.
Kind of brings a whole new meaning to the phrase “shootout tournament,” doesn’t it?
It is explained to them that this will happen every day until there is only one survivor. Yikes! Of course, there’s no escape from the island, though that doesn’t stop the remaining players from exploring avenues of escape.
So the novel is not really a “who done it?” but more of a “who is going to be done-in next?” And of course, then, the inevitable question of “why that person?”
Another way to look at would be to say it’s a cross between Agatha Christie’s classic “And Then There Were None” and the TV show Survivor. Only this is really the ultimate game of Survivor, isn’t it? You don’t get voted off the island. You get voted off this mortal coil.
High Stakes Poker? Yes, indeed, the highest stakes possible.
The book is a whole lot of fun. The characters are forced to make (very temporary) alliances and of course, there are double-deals, triple-deals, broken deals, back-biting, double-crosses, etc. Anything to survive.
All of the ten players had previously won some sort of poker tournament somewhere, so it is, at least on the surface, a fair fight. Or at least they all conceivable have a chance to win. None of them appear to be what you would likely call a professional poker player.
In fact, one of them mostly works as a Vegas stripper. If I may be so bold, I would suggest to the author that there might very well be another novel (a prequel, if you will) in the story of a stripper winning a Vegas poker tournament. I’m guessing she used the Jennifer Tilly effect to full advantage.
There are two other female players in addition to the stripper. All of the women are at least tempted to use their feminine wiles to their advantage. Which means, of course, that in addition to the “fun” of a nightly killing, there’s some sex in the story. All the players are forced to use all their skills, talents and intellectual abilities to figure out how to survive.
And of course, that means winning each night’s round of poker. Now, the poker is very much secondary here to the thrilling plot and all the deal-making and the attempts to find a weak spot in their captors’ well-designed prison. The fun is in the plot, the characters, the twists and turns. You never know who’s going to win each day, and who they will pick to kill, or why.
There’s also an intriguing sub-plot that takes place away from the island. How that plot figures into the main one (and trying to figure that out) is another fun element to the whole story.
The poker itself is not really the reason to read this entertaining book. It could really be any game, any kind of contest that involves both luck and skill. By using poker though, it is easy to explain how the mysterious powers that be would know that all their contestants had had poker success. In the book’s universe, the players are all no doubt all listed on Hendon Mob.
But in notes at the end of the book, the author indicates he got the idea for the book when he was the chip leader in a poker tournament in Atlantic City. Wow, that must have been some poker tournament. Actually, he said he was the chip leader at the final table but finished 7th (and no doubt is still pissed about that). I guess that would explain why he would want to shoot all the other players!
So the poker itself is just background. You will get no great insights to the game from reading the book. In fact, a lot of the action as described is rather bizarre and inexplicable. Some of that turns out to be due to the fact that the players are purposely playing to help other players, as part of their deals (yes, there’s definitely some collusion going on). Other times it’s harder to justify.
No matter, that’s not the point of the book. The fun is in the main story, the characters, the alliances, the double-crosses, and the all the action that ensues as a result. The book definitely works as a thriller.
For a fun, quick read, I do recommend Death Raise, whether you play poker or not.
March 10, 2014
A Special Thanks
I would like to thank those of you who participated in Read an eBook week on Smashwords and helped make
Ticket for Terror Ticket for Terror the #3 Top Selling thriller! I hope all of you enjoy the novel and I look forward to hearing your reviews.
Thanks again,
Christopher Parks
Ticket for Terror Ticket for Terror the #3 Top Selling thriller! I hope all of you enjoy the novel and I look forward to hearing your reviews.
Thanks again,
Christopher Parks
March 6, 2014
Ticket for Terror is FREE on Smashwords
I know that money can often times get in the way of what we choose to read. But money is no object this week!
Smashwords Read an eBook week is almost over.
Now's your chance to grab a FREE copy of my first novel Ticket for Terror
Just go to http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/...
and enter the code: GY94G
I would love to hear your review.
Also this week you can find my second novel
Death Raise
40% off here: http://www.amazon.com/Death-Raise-Chr...
Smashwords Read an eBook week is almost over.
Now's your chance to grab a FREE copy of my first novel Ticket for Terror
Just go to http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/...and enter the code: GY94G
I would love to hear your review.
Also this week you can find my second novel
Death Raise
40% off here: http://www.amazon.com/Death-Raise-Chr...
September 25, 2012
Truth behind Lottery Winners?
A $120 Mega Million jackpot ticket was sold at a 7-Eleven store near the UC Riverside campus, the California Lottery announced Wednesday on its website.
The person who purchased the ticket has not yet come forward to claim the big prize.
“This is very special,” Cathy Baker, inland state lotto sales manager, told the Press Enterprise. “And we hope to see them soon.”
Ok here’s what drives me crazy about all this. I know I harp on the lottery stuff and I’ll move on after this. The person who won was caught on the surveillance tape and has already been identified. Going a step further, is it possible that the winner is pre-selected before the drawing? I know that sounds sooo conspiracy, but when you think about it, is this country really willing to put hundreds-of-millions of dollars in the hands of just anyone? That would mean that the psycho who just mass-murdered people in the movie theater in Colorado could have hit it. What would he have done with the money? Some gang-banger who just got released from prison for –whatever crime- is entitled to win? A homegrown terrorist with hopes to harm innocent civilians could really become a millionaire overnight? I don’t think the powers that be would ever let that happen. Let’s be honest, most of us play the lottery with hopes of helping out our families, going on vacations around the world, quitting our day jobs and never worrying about money again. We don’t think about the people who are dying to get their hands on that kind of money to help fund vicious acts of terror, or finance a drug ring or worse.
We all know the old saying "If it seems too good to be true..."
Christopher Parks
The person who purchased the ticket has not yet come forward to claim the big prize.
“This is very special,” Cathy Baker, inland state lotto sales manager, told the Press Enterprise. “And we hope to see them soon.”
Ok here’s what drives me crazy about all this. I know I harp on the lottery stuff and I’ll move on after this. The person who won was caught on the surveillance tape and has already been identified. Going a step further, is it possible that the winner is pre-selected before the drawing? I know that sounds sooo conspiracy, but when you think about it, is this country really willing to put hundreds-of-millions of dollars in the hands of just anyone? That would mean that the psycho who just mass-murdered people in the movie theater in Colorado could have hit it. What would he have done with the money? Some gang-banger who just got released from prison for –whatever crime- is entitled to win? A homegrown terrorist with hopes to harm innocent civilians could really become a millionaire overnight? I don’t think the powers that be would ever let that happen. Let’s be honest, most of us play the lottery with hopes of helping out our families, going on vacations around the world, quitting our day jobs and never worrying about money again. We don’t think about the people who are dying to get their hands on that kind of money to help fund vicious acts of terror, or finance a drug ring or worse.
We all know the old saying "If it seems too good to be true..."
Christopher Parks
September 2, 2012
Mystery Lottery Winner Sees Self on Surveillance Image, Realizes He Won $52 Million
ABC News: The hunt for a mysterious lottery winner whose photo was released in an effort to find him this week ended just hours after it began.
Bladimir and Marita Agnite of Fremont, Calif., came forward to claim the $52 million Mega Millions jackpot after a friend or relative told Bladimir he had seen his picture on the news.
What if the wrong person identified Bladimir from the photo? In the world we live in, would they have told him he won? Or tried to rob the ticket from him?
I find it funny that a month after my novel Ticket for Terror was released, the state of Calif. decided to use the security video to help locate the winner of the jackpot.
Thank goodness the story ends well for Bladimir and his family. In the future others may not be so lucky. How many times do we play the lottery and forget to check the tickets? As technology advances and criminals abuse the tools that are available to us all, don't be surprised if the next person identified by security video as winning the lottery; ends in a scenario similar to that which happens in my book.
Keep playing and don't forget to check your tickets.
Christopher Parks
Ticket for Terror
Bladimir and Marita Agnite of Fremont, Calif., came forward to claim the $52 million Mega Millions jackpot after a friend or relative told Bladimir he had seen his picture on the news.
What if the wrong person identified Bladimir from the photo? In the world we live in, would they have told him he won? Or tried to rob the ticket from him?
I find it funny that a month after my novel Ticket for Terror was released, the state of Calif. decided to use the security video to help locate the winner of the jackpot.
Thank goodness the story ends well for Bladimir and his family. In the future others may not be so lucky. How many times do we play the lottery and forget to check the tickets? As technology advances and criminals abuse the tools that are available to us all, don't be surprised if the next person identified by security video as winning the lottery; ends in a scenario similar to that which happens in my book.
Keep playing and don't forget to check your tickets.
Christopher Parks
Ticket for Terror
August 17, 2012
337 Million Dollar Powerball winner identified!!
The winner of the $337 million dollar Powerball is from Michigan. That much we know. Nobody has come forward yet to claim the prize that will change their life forever. If you've read my book; TICKET FOR TERROR, then you understand that it's possible someone has already identified him/her.
If this fortunate fortune ever came my way. I would act fast and start looking over my shoulder instantly. The advancement of technology today has made the option anonymity a dangerous one to choose.
I hope the winner is ready for his new fame and I would love his first purchase to be my thriller TICKET FOR TERROR.
Who knows? The winner may be a member of Goodreads. If so please send me a friend request. Ticket for Terror
If this fortunate fortune ever came my way. I would act fast and start looking over my shoulder instantly. The advancement of technology today has made the option anonymity a dangerous one to choose.
I hope the winner is ready for his new fame and I would love his first purchase to be my thriller TICKET FOR TERROR.
Who knows? The winner may be a member of Goodreads. If so please send me a friend request. Ticket for Terror
