Audiobooks Giveaway: Felonious Jazz by Bryan Gilmer
Bryan Gilmer is a former newspaper crime reporter and the author of the crime thriller Felonious Jazz, which averages 4.5 out of 5 stars at Amazon after 22 reviews. It was a Next Generation Indie Book Awards finalist and Kindle Store Mysteries & Thrillers bestseller, and today it is being released for the first time as an audiobook. Synopsis: When Raleigh, North Carolina, legal investigator Jeff Swaine’s client comes home to find his McMansion burglarized and his new wife’s dog dead in the kitchen, the man suspects his ex-wife. But this is someone far more dangerous. From a stolen minivan, washed-up jazz bassist Leonard Noblac is performing his “perfect jazz album of felonies” to punish the zeros in the soulless suburb of Rocky Falls. Used to working from the shadow at the back of the stage, Leonard puts down a throbbing beat of crime and destruction, the performance he knows will finally make him famous. As Leonard’s improvisations grow more terrifying, Jeff must find Leonard and stop him – and save the teenager and newborn he has kidnapped – before the album reaches its fiery crescendo.
I have a pretty tough sell as an author. If you like mysteries and crime stories, I’ve written some novels I think you’ll enjoy. But you probably already own a pile of books by authors you love or that friends have recommended that you haven’t yet had time to read. How can I expect you to have time for mine?
Well, how ‘ bout a deal? I’ll give you four to ten extra hours of reading time every week for the rest of your life if you agree to use it the first week to read my latest crime thriller, Felonious Jazz? Deal? Okay, good. :-)
The secret’s audiobooks. You can listen to an audiobook while you commute to work, fold laundry, mow the lawn, or walk on the elliptical. Many of you have already discovered audiobooks, like me, and love them. I don’t have a commute, but even I can “read” an extra book a week on my way to errands. I read twice as much now that I started listening to them (Authors love books more than anybody, but we need to spend our free time writing, not reading – a Catch 22).
So I was adamant that Felonious Jazz had to be an audiobook as well as a paperback and ebook. And today, the audiobook edition is finally out. Thanks for the Dolls for hosting me on this special day.
If you’ve never heard an audiobook, you’ve gotta try one. It’s like a bedtime story when you were a kid, only with the author or a professional actor reading the story and doing different accents for each speaking part. You may remember when audiobooks used to be sets of a dozen or more balky cassettes that cost a hundred bucks, so you had to check them out from the library. But it’s so much simpler now that audiobooks are digital. You can download them from Audible.com, usually for under $20.
Even the retail package is more svelte now. We fit the entire 59-chapter, 6-hour and 38-minute audiobook of Felonious Jazz onto a single CD in a slim case. It’s a data CD that just pops in and plays in newer car stereos and CD and DVD players (anything with the mp3 logo). It transfers to your mp3 headphone player or plays on your computer. The disk even has the Audible version of the book to zap onto your iPod (And don’t forget: If you have an iPhone, it’s also an iPod, and you should use it as one). It’s easy, and we included instructions. You can even put the audiobook on your Kindle and listen to it there.
So, let’s kick off your newfound reading time with me personally reading you a story. Special deal for Paperback Dolls readers: just $10, downloaded instantly or shipped anywhere in the US for free (MSRP is $23.95). (There are five different ways to win a free copy today, but go ahead and buy if you’re interested, because if you already own the audiobook when you win, I’ll send you your money back AND a second free copy for a friend). All I ask is that you spread the spoken word.
In the comments, I want to hear your best memory of having a bedtime story read to you as a child. Or of reading stories to your own child. Or your tips for enjoying audiobooks or recommendations of well-done audiobook mystery or thriller titles.
The giveaway:
1. Free copy for my favorite comment here.
2. Free copy for the first blog to link to this post and prove it by emailing me the link at bryan at bryangilmer.com.
3. Free copy for 10th new Twitter follower after this post goes live.
4. Free copy for my 10th new Twitter follower ).
5. Free copy for my favorite Twitter tweet to mention 1) this giveaway, 2) and and 3) link to this blog post during the next 24 hours.
Jeff Davis Swaine digs up evidence for a Raleigh, North Carolina, trial law firm. Like Raleigh, Swaine is Southern with blue-collar roots but now finds himself more at home in an Audi convertible than a rusty pickup. When one of the firm’s clients comes home to find his McMansion burglarized — and his new wife’s dog dead in the kitchen — the man suspects his ex-wife. But Swaine senses this is someone far more dangerous. From a stolen minivan, washed-up jazz bassist Leonard Noblac watches as Swaine begins to investigate. He’s ready to perform his next crime to punish the zeros in the soulless suburb of Rocky Falls, and he’s happy to have Swaine in his audience. Used to working from the shadow at the back of the stage, Leonard intends to put down a throbbing beat of crime and destruction in Rocky Falls — a jazz album of felonies, the performance he knows will finally make him famous. Jeff must find Leonard and stop him — but that will put those closest to Jeff in mortal danger.
The Postcard Killer by James Patterson's audio was very good. Please enter me in contest.
My husband travels a lot for his job and really enjoys audiobooks. As a busy mom I am staring to think maybe I could start getting into audiobooks too!
I used to buy the books that came with a 45 record recording of them when I was a kid! Love being read stories!!!
I used to buy those record too- it was like an impulse buy from my mother. I remember her standing in the check out line and me going over to look at the record aisle and picking up a book, begging her to add it to our stuff and going home, putting the record on the little fisher price record player my folks let me have in my room and listening. I LOVED IT!!!
Thanks you Bryan Gilmer for the giveaway! Good Luck everyone!
Oh man! I remember those kids' books that came with a record. "You will know it is time to turn the page when Tinkerbell rings her little bell — like THIS!"
I love you ladies as you know and I took the twitter into about Bryan and posted on Wicked Cool Flights Blog. So today's blog is for people to come and check out Bryan. http://www.wickedcoolflight.net
Bryan – thanks so much for visiting the dollhouse :D
I loved those books with tapes! (Yes I had the tapes!) My favorite was Mary Poppins.
I don't usually read audio books but maybe I need to start again :D
YAY!!! Thanks Teresa!
Teresa, thanks for the blog post! You win a free audiobook! Go to my site and click the link to send me an email with your address (or if you would rather download the copy than have the CD mailed, I can get it to you that way — specify mp3 or iPod format).
And guess what? I have ANOTHER free copy for the NEXT blog post to do the same. Yes, we are up to six freebies now.
Three free copies still up for grabs:
1. Next blog to link to this post.
2. Favorite tweet.
3. Favorite comment in this thread.
Let's keep the conversation going. This is fun.
Okay, don't tell anyone but I'm a mail carrier so I work outside all day with lots of walking and lots of free brain time, so I bought an mp3 player and started to download audiobooks, now I can't imagine a day without them. I have a kindle too, so when I'm on my breaks I read the kindle, when I'm working I'm listening. Can you tell I like books? Usually I'm into Para romance or old school fantasy, but a good story is a good story. Yours sounds good, I will def have to check it out. Oh, and I used to read the star wars picture books to my son. He's now 22, and yesterday he texted me May the Fourth be with you and tomorrow it will most likely be Happy sith day. Can you tell it was an influence? Thanks for being here and congrats!! :)
Artesia at comcast dot net
Wow — HOW do I apply for a mail carrier job, again? What a great way to spend your day. And very impressive that your brain can read addresses and still pay attention to the plot.
Cheers,
Bryan
Kristin — for giving me that vivid sensory memory of childhood, the Tinkerbell chime on the tiny 33 RPM record, you win a copy of the audiobook. Please email me from the right-column link at my site, bryangilmer.com, and let me know if you want to download mp3 or ipod version or to receive physical CD in the mail.
Congratulations!
I read and review a lot of books and since I received a Kindle for my birthday in August, I love to read from my Kindle, or better yet, change to text to speech and listen to the book when I am tired of reading. I also download books for my grandson and read to him children's books, or let him listen to them. I love my Kindle. I also read Children's books to my six year old grandson. Now he reads some of his books to me. I am so proud of my grandson because recently he won tickets to The Carolina Panthers by reading 25 books in his class at school.
This all started because my mother read to me as a child and took me to the Richard Thornton Library in Oxford, North Carolina where I have always lived.
Sadly to say, my mother died when I was a teenager, but she encouraged me to read as much as possible. and now I am an avid reader and I hope my grandson will be just like me in this respect.
Thanks!
Rebecca
rbooth43(at)yahoo(dot)com
Oxford, NC? I live right down the road in Durham, and Felonious Jazz is set in the area. Bless you for helping your grandson love reading.
Haha! The things I do to win books. I can't believe I just raced over to my Twitter page, became a follower, tweeted and am now commenting, only to re-check my e-mail and realise that the 24 hour tweet deadline is way past over and I'm probably more like the 100th follower instead of the 10th by now. Lol. It's just made me realise how serious my book addiction has become. Oh well! Thanks for the great giveaway and interview:) Good luck for the future!