Winter Dawn by Alex Callister
Winter Dawn by Alex Callister
AD – Today on the blog we welcome author Alex Callister, with her new book ‘Winter Dawn‘, which was released today, 24th January 2022 and is the third book in her Winter Series.
- Author – Alex Callister
- Publisher – Dark Water Press
- Release Date – 24th January 2022
- Pages – 344
- Format – ebook, Audio
Synopsis
From the author of the #1 Bestselling Audible Thriller of the Year comes a terrifying high stakes hunt to the death…
It is the winter solstice, the longest night of the year. When a New York Senator is chosen as an assassination target by Colosseum, the chilling online game, she faces a terrible choice; to run or to hide.
No-where is safe. No-one can be trusted.
But just when the Senator’s brutal death seems inevitable, a young agent called Winter arrives from London to protect her. Now Winter is all that stands between the Senator and Colosseum’s deadly hunt. As dawn creeps in, time is running out for Winter to unravel the mystery at the heart of this sinister game: who is the shadowy head of Colosseum, and what is his ultimate purpose?
It is darkest before the dawn.
As Winter and the Senator journey together into the dark heart of the longest night, they soon discover that nothing about Colosseum is what it seems. There are rules, and there is a purpose, if only they can solve the riddle in time. Colosseum is more than a hunt: it’s a challenge.
Targets must face their deepest fear, or die at dawn.
What Reviewers’ are Saying
– ‘This series is a breath of fresh air and I definitely recommend it.’ 5 Stars
– ‘I highly recommend the entire series, especially if you like spy thrillers and kick-ass female protagonists.’ 5 Stars
– ‘More cracking fun from Callister.’ 5 Stars
Extract
I have a superstitious streak a mile wide. If you unravelled me end to end, spread me out on the floor entrails and all, there would be mile upon mile of black cats and magpies and if it lands on red and if I throw a six then he loves me, he loves me.
When I think about my superstitious self all laid out like an unwrapped Egyptian mummy, I feel a little ashamed, embarrassed by such awkward tawdry nonsense – it is not, after all, what I believe – but put my back to the wall and it is in the bone. Those thin white bones that are all that is left of my unravelled self. Even then, you could cut them in two or slice them end to end and there it would be, tattooed all through me like Brighton rock: Faith.
That is an ugly word these days. In the age of progress, there is little room for credulous belief. The ignorant suspension of disbelief. Faith in all its facets and I am not talking those modern men – Jesus and Mohammed. Man was making bargains with fate, chasing destiny, thousands of years before they came along.
It’s what I am doing now as I wait. It is what I’m always doing – making bargains with fate. I look up at the two birds flying side by side in the early morning sky. Is it a sign? It’s grey in Central Park, that grey light that comes before the dawn, and dawn is not far away. I can already see all the way across the reservoir to the gatehouse in the distance. The winter solstice. The longest night of the year.
Lucky.
Soon it will be day and the sky will be blue. Not summer blue – the colour of his periwinkle eyes, so deep and rich they could be purple – but hard, winter blue. Pale and cold and so bright it hurts.
A breeze stirs the skeleton trees behind me. It is too early for joggers on the thin white reservoir track. The Jackie O Reservoir. Another woman who loved.
The water is dark.
Something makes me shiver in the early morning. A breath of anticipation or a premonition. The wind is whispering my name.
Anna, Anna, Anna.
Dark water. It spreads out around me, barely a ripple on the surface. So still I can see my face, strange and ghost-like on the mill pond, almost like another person behind my eyes.
He loves me. I tell myself over and over.
He loves me, he loves me.
There are footsteps on the path behind me. He is coming.
I cross the fingers of both hands and turn my face to the dawn.
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Author Info
Alex is an action movie fan and her books are full of cult references and movie one-liners. Her kick-ass heroine, Winter, was inspired by Bond, Bourne, John Wick, Vin Diesel, Jack Reacher and many others. She has a history degree, a certificate in creative writing and a murderous imagination.
She writes when she gets a chance, which is mainly at night between 10pm and 2am at home in London, with her three Bengal tigers. Her debut WINTER DARK was the Audible UK Thriller of the Year and was a finalist at the Audies in 2020.
I love a good thriller and this one has me interested. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
This sounds really good.