I’m happy today to be participating in the cover reveal of The Reckoning Squad by
S. Burke. Suzanne (“Soooz”) is a dear friend and gifted writer of dark thrillers. I was a beta reader on this book and enjoyed the story immensely. One character, in particular, really took me by surprise. I’m so excited to finally see the cover and be able to pre-order my copy. Here’s Soooz to tell you more…
Hello, and welcome to the Cover Reveal of my New Psychological Thriller.
“The Reckoning Squad.”
The Reckoning Squad
By
S. Burke
Available to Pre-Order NOW.
Release Date: Monday FEBRUARY 24th, 2020.
Mystery>Psychological Thriller & Suspense >
It is such an exciting time for an author when releasing a new book! I would be remiss in not sharing my heartfelt thanks to the marvelous people who gave of their time so readily to beta read my latest book. Their valuable insights helped me enormously when crafting “The Reckoning Squad”
At long last, I’m able to share the cover and blurb for “The Reckoning Squad” my latest Psychological Thriller.
“The Reckoning Squad ” is due for release on Monday, February 24th, 2020.
It is NOW available for Pre-Order.
I have many good friends sharing this cover across the blogosphere today and tomorrow, so you’re likely to see it pop up in various places. Thank you to everyone participating in my cover reveal splash, and to everyone dropping by to share in my excitement. Here’s my new baby . . .
With much gratitude to Eeva Lancaster at The Book Khaleesi for the cover creation.
Cover Created by Eeva Lancaster at The Book Khaleesi
Presenting “The Reckoning Squad” A Psychological thriller.
“The Reckoning Squad“
BLURB:
The Reckoning Squad was the new name being whispered in the darkened corridors of the powerful in Washington. The name was whispered with awe, and the whispers grew louder.
Twenty people had been carefully vetted and recruited to undergo specialized training. Training engineered to break them utterly, intended to shatter everything they once believed themselves capable of surviving. Only the best of them made it through the twelve weeks of hell. They now formed a cohesive black-ops unit, known as The Reckoning Squad.
Their facility is breached, and the team’s numbers are decimated. The survivors know that they’re in a fight for their lives. They have been betrayed from within. Trust has now become a rare commodity. They want answers.
The betrayers don’t understand just what they’ve unleashed.
But they are about to find out.
The Reckoning Squad are coming, and they have just rewritten the rules.
#
Here’s an extract from the Prologue.
Prologue.
New York: November 8th, 2003.
Chastity Adams checked the time, ran a brush through her long blonde curls and hurriedly grabbed her school books. She shoved them into her backpack and slipped on her gloves. One quick look from her bedroom window was enough to tell her just how windy it was outside. The last of the fall leaves still clung bravely to the branches all the while knowing it was futile. The others swirled in small angry spirals across her backyard. She grabbed her coat, pulled on a beanie, and loosely draped a scarf across her shoulders. Chastity was unaware of how pretty she looked with her long curls falling in a soft curtain around her. Her mind was too busy to cloud it with vanity.
She suddenly recalled a decision she’d made yesterday.
Chastity hurried down the hallway to her brother Nathan’s room and knocked on the door.
Nathan stood looking down at her from his 6ft 3ins, rubbing his eyes and leaning on the wall. “What’s up, squirt?”
Chastity ignored the nickname, she’d be thirteen in a couple of days then she’d ask her big brother to quit using it, “I was just wondering if you had some gloves and maybe a beanie or scarf you don’t ever wear.”
“Why would you need them?”
Chastity flushed a deep shade of pink, “There’s this boy at school, he kinda always looks cold. He’s still wearing the same stuff he was wearing back in June. It’s way too cold now for shorts and a tee-shirt. So, I figured maybe his folks just didn’t have enough money to buy him some warmer stuff, you know? I mean he could have one of mine, but he already gets picked on enough and adding bright girl colored stuff would just make it worse.”
“You off on another one of your missions to save the world, squirt?”
“I’m not! But it just doesn’t seem right that some folks have too much and some folks never have enough. That’s all.”
Her brother looked at her closely and nodded. “Okay. I guess I have some stuff I don’t really need.”
His sister flung her arms around him. “You are the best brother ever! You wouldn’t maybe have an old hoodie as well?”
Nathan knew he’d lose an argument with his kid sister. He had never been able to deny her anything. And the little minx knew it.
His eyes followed her as she left the room with her donated bootie. He tried to shrug off the thought that his friends may start looking at his kid sister a little differently, and soon.
Then he grinned and was comforted by the knowledge that the squirt was capable of laying them out flat on the ground, courtesy of the karate lessons she’d undertaken since the age of five. If she didn’t dissuade them they’d have to come through him. That wasn’t about to happen. This whole big brother thing had suddenly altered in a way he hadn’t anticipated happening quite so soon.
***
Travis Wilson shivered as he stepped outside and hurriedly locked the front door behind him. The baggy shorts and tee-shirt he was wearing gave him no armor to fight off the cold November wind. He steeled himself to brace it, picked up his violin case and hurried to catch the school bus.
He climbed on and made his way quickly down to the back corner and grabbed the window seat. He spoke to no one and kept his eyes averted, but he couldn’t shut his ears off from hearing the nasty comments from the other kids that sat nearest to him. “You going away to a beach somewhere, freak? Don’t much like your choice of swimwear.”
The guy had secured himself a good laugh with that one.
Then the other comments started. Kids seemed to grow braver when they formed a pack. Travis knew they weren’t all cruel, not normally, but the need they had to belong trashed all over their distaste at what they were doing. Driven by the desire to be considered popular inspired them to be as cruel as they could be. Their words lacerated his already damaged soul and Travis felt his face darken with the shame of it. He didn’t respond either by word or action, knowing they’d soon become bored with their bullying of him and move their spiteful tongues on to some other kid they deemed to be weak and an easy target.
He looked out the window and sighed with relief when he spotted Chastity Adams and her best friends readying to climb onboard at the bus stop. Chastity was different from the rest of them. He always felt a little better about his day when she’d seek him out and give him a smile. He looked across at her then, just as she turned. He knew she had caught the wistful look on his face. She simply smiled across at him and turned back to her chattering best friends.
He caught the smile and burned it into his memory. He would remember it when the darkness descended again. It would help keep him warm.
***
Purchase The Reckoning Squad on Amazon.com
Again my grateful thanks to the generous folks sharing my Cover reveal with you today.
I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts.
Suzanne Burke Amazon Author Page | On TWITTER | My Blog
What a fantastic cover! I’m going to be impatient waiting for release day, but in the meantime, I plan to hop over to Amazon and one-click my pre-order. Please use the sharing buttons below to help Soooz spread the word about The Reckoning Squad!
Ooh, this looks like it will be a fun read. Best of luck, Soooz!
Great to see Suzanne and her new book here, Mae 🙂
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Thanks for sharing in my excitement today, Harmony! 😁
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i’m delighted to host her! Thanks for visiting, Harmony!
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Fun cover, intriguing excerpt! I’m worried for and about Travis, and Chastity sounds like a nice kid.
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Thank you, Priscilla! I appreciate you sharing in my excitement.
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I really fell in love with the cover. It’s so bold! And, it is a great excerpt, isn’t it?
Thanks for visiting,Priscilla. Cover reveals are always fun!
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Congratulations Soooz! I really enjoy Suzanne’s books, and this one is on my TBR. Cover looks great! Thank you for sharing this Mae! I’m going to spread the word on my blog today.
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Thanks, Mark! I’m delighted that you are sharing in my excitement.
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You are welcome. I’m excited to read it.
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I saw your post, Mark, and am so glad The Reckoning Squad is getting such exposure in the blogosphere today. Thanks for visiting to cheer Soooz on with her latest!
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Happy to do it, Mae!
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Oooh! Sounds suspenseful! The cover is great.
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Thanks, Joan! I’m thrilled by the response to the cover.
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Isn’t that cover fabulous? I just thinks it’s so bold and dramatic.
Thanks for visiting,Joan!
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Awesome cover – congrats on the upcoming release, Soooz!
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Thanks, Teri! I’m so thrilled with the response to the cover.
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Teri, thanks for visiting to cheer on Soooz. She’s got a great cover for her upcoming release. I’m so excited for her!
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Looks great. Sharing it.
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Thanks so much, James!
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You’re welcome.
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Awesome, Jay! Thank you! 🙂
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You’re welcome.
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How exciting! So thrilled for you, Soooz! The cover looks awesome and I really enjoyed the prologue. Big cheers to you! 🙂
Thanks so much for sharing, Mae, as always!
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I’m happy dancing down under. Thanks so much, Natalie. I’m delighted with the response to the cover. 😁
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I love doing cover reveals, and this is such a fantastic one.
Thanks for dropping by to share in the excitement, Natalie!
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Oohhh … very cool cover and you know I love a good psychological thriller. Perfect for my TBR pile ❤️
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Thanks so much, Tessa. I’m so pleased you like the cover.
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Sounds like a perfect fit, Tessa. 🙂
I was blown away by the cover. It’s so eye catching!
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The blurb sounds so exciting. The idea of a black ops reckoning squad is intriguing. Love the cover – it’s perfect for a DC thriller. Great share, Mae and. congrats to Suzanne.
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Thank you! I had a marvelous time writing this one.
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Soooz came up with an excellent plot, and the cover is a perfect fit.
Thanks for visiting to cheer her on, Diana!
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What a cover–the eagle and the flag. Oh my.
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Thanks, Jacqui! I
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Yep, my feelings, too. It gives me goosebumps!
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Loved this excerpt. It nailed kids and how cruel they can be and why. Immediately made me like Chastity, her brother Nathan, and Travis. A wonderful hook. Thanks for sharing, Mae!
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Thanks so much, Judi! I’m so glad you enjoyed the excerpt.
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I’m glad you enjoyed the excerpt, Judi. It really does make you feel for Travis. Thanks for visiting to cheer on Soooz. I do believe this is my favorite of her work. Very strong!
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Thanks so much for sharing in my excitement today, Mae! Your marvelous support is so very much appreciated. The cover has generated such a great response! I can’t stop smiling!😁
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I’m so glad so many friends are supporting you throughout the blogosphere with your bold and beautiful cover. You know you are always welcome here. It’s a pleasure to host you, my friend!
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❤(((hugs)))
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It’s nice to see Sooz splashed all over the blogosphere today. Well deserved! I love her books and style of writing. This cover is a great winner. Wishing you great success dear friend.
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Thanks so much, Balroop! I am having a wonderful time. Thanks for adding to it.❤
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Thanks so much for dropping by to cheer her on, Balroop. She has a knack for writing dark thrillers, and The Reckoning Squad is no exception!
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Congratulations! Appreciate you are sharing it, looks very fun!!
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Thank you!
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So wonderful of you to drop by and check out the post. Thank you!!
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Wonderful cover:) I have this preordered and can’t wait to read it!
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I’m completely with you on both counts, Denise! 🙂
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How wonderful to see Soooz all over the place today! I truly love this cover and the excerpt grabs me – especially that last paragraph. 🙂 Thank you, Mae, for spreading the world!
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Ooops. I meant spreading the “word” not “world.” 🙂
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I actually read it the right way 🙂
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It’s an excellent excerpt and a great cover reveal. So glad you dropped by to share in the festivities, Jan!
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I too was a beta reader, Mae and agree this is a good one. Thanks for hosting Soooz.
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I’m thrilled to be taking part in her big splash today, John. I can’t wait for the release!
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Oh, that Prologue pulled me right in, just as it should! I’m heading over to pre-order this one right now! Great post, both of you! Sharing! 🙂
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Woohoo! Soooz will love that. Thanks oodles, Marcia 🙂
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It’s on my Kindle, even as I type! 😀 Looking forward to reading it. 🙂
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The cover is awesome! If I saw it in a bookstore, I’d pull it down immediately! Thanks for hosting, Mae!
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Hi, Linda! So happy to see you here today. I agree with you about the cover. I think it’s off the charts!
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Thanks, Mae!
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I’m just getting around to blogs today. I see my feed is full of cover reveals for this book, but this is my first stop. I like the cover. It has a kind of old-school thing going on that I love. Congratulations on your new story.
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I positively love it–traditional and bold. I’m honored that I’m your first stop today, Craig. I know you’re out and about doing your own cover reveal. Thanks for visiting to cheer on Soooz.
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I usually do my exploring in the morning, but had a small agenda today.
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Mae, this is a superb cover, eye-catching, bold! Congratulations to Suzanne on her upcoming release of what sounds like a brilliant book. The premise is intense and the extract is brilliant. Good luck with the book launch!
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Thanks for visiting, Annika. I agree this is a bold and exciting cover. I’m so excited for Soooz and her upcoming release. Thanks for joining in the excitement!
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Hi, Mae! It’s great to see Suzanne and her new book on your blog. I’m a fan of Suzanne’s work, and I’m looking forward to reading this one. Thanks for hosting! ❤
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My pleasure, Vashti. I’m very excited for Soooz and was delighted to participate in her cover reveal!
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A great cover. Thanks for sharing, Mae.
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My pleasure! Glad you stopped by to check it out!
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Awesome cover! Great excerpt! My TBR list keeps growing …
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I really love this cover, Julie. It’s such a great match for the book which is bold and daring. Soooz has a winner with the Reckoning Squad!
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I am new to blogging community. Amazed to find such good stuffs!
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Hi, Arisha! Welcome to the blogging community! Thanks for stopping by and checking out Soooz’s most recent release.
Happy blogging!
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