Book Release: THE ISLAND DECEPTION

I don’t do a lot of book releases on my blog. In fact, I don’t think I’ve done any. But this book is special. First off, the author, Dan Koboldt, was my Pitch Wars mentor when I was a contestant in 2015, and then my co-mentor this past year and again this coming year. You may remember that he’s the smart one, I’m the pretty one.

This is also special because it’s a book I got to work on in its early stages, and now I got to read at completion. Which, if you’ve never done that, is really cool. I got to see how some of my suggestions made it onto the page (or didn’t!) and how an early draft gets polished into a really clean book.

I just really liked the book. The writing was sharp, the pace kept pulling me along, and the ending was hard to put down. I’m not going to do a huge review here. I’ll just say this: If you enjoyed the first book, you’ll enjoy this one more. Guaranteed. Okay, not really guaranteed. But if I’m wrong, you can feel free to avoid my advice about books in the future. But I’m not wrong. Like, ever. Okay…that’s a lie. But I’m not wrong about this.

Plus, and I can’t stress this enough, doing this book release post gave me access to edit Dan’s biography down below. Not that I’d ever do that.

With that, I present to you: THE ISLAND DECEPTION (Gateways to Alissia #2) by Dan Koboldt

What happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas. But what happens after you step through a portal to another world, well…

For stage magician Quinn Bradley, he thought his time in Alissia was over. He’d done his job for the mysterious company CASE Global Enterprises, and now his name is finally on the marquee of one of the biggest Vegas casinos. And yet, for all the accolades, he definitely feels something is missing. He can create the most amazing illusions on Earth, but he’s also tasted true power. Real magic.

He misses it.

Luckily–or not–CASE Global is not done with him, and they want him to go back. The first time, he was tasked with finding a missing researcher. Now, though, he has another task:

Help take Richard Holt down.

It’s impossible to be in Vegas and not be a gambler. And while Quinn might not like his odds–a wyvern nearly ate him the last time he was in Alissia–if he plays his cards right, he might be able to aid his friends.

He also might learn how to use real magic himself.

Continuing the exciting adventures from The Rogue Retrieval, The Island Deception blends fun and mystery into a brilliant new fantasy from Dan Koboldt.

Publisher: Harper Voyager

ISBN: 9780062659095

Release Date: April 11, 2017

And a little bit about Dan. (Fine, I won’t edit it. He wrote the bio below, not me. Apparently there are ‘rules’ about these things, and I’m not allowed to ‘make up’ facts, such as Dan invented science. So I’ll just say this: Nobody has seen Dan and Batman in the same place at the same time. Make of that what you will. And he’s *probably* not the mastermind behind an international archery competition scandal. Who knew the archery gambling action was so robust?)

Dan Koboldt is a genetics researcher and fantasy/science fiction author. He has co-authored more than 70 publications in Nature, Science, The New England Journal of Medicine, and other scientific journals. Dan is also an avid deer hunter and outdoorsman. He lives with his wife and children in Ohio, where the deer take their revenge by eating the flowers in his backyard.