Review & Giveaway: What You Don't Know by Elka Ray

What You Don't Know: Tales of Obsession, Mystery & Murder in Southeast Asia

by Elka Ray

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GENRE: Suspense, Short Stories

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BLURB:

An American lawyer dreams of killing his trophy wife in Thailand. A Vietnamese soldier goes mad in a haunted forest. A bereaved mother's trip to Cambodia ends in tragedy - or does it?

Take a spine-tingling journey from the jungles of Sumatra through Bangkok's seedy bars to the seemingly sedate streets of Singapore. Your traveling companions are a slew of dark emotions - fear, grief, jealousy, greed, lust and revenge. And your destination? What you don't know can hurt you.

With flashes of black humor and hard-to-forget characters, these ten stories shine light into the dark corners of Southeast Asia.

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My Review:

These ten stories are brief but very intense and engaging, full of suspense and tension. It's impossible to put it down before reading it all. The stories relate to ghosts, murders, betrayals, revenge

Although these stories are short, the characters are well-developed and well-marked, the plts are well-intertwined and complete and all the settings are really fascinating and full of mystery.

I recommend it to anyone who wants to make a suggestive trip in SE Asia.

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EXCERPT:

“Kyle?” I yell. I’m sure my son is gone, sucked down to the bottom.

Blinking against the blood, I see him lying face down on the deck. He’s got himself wedged against the boat’s sides like a rock climber. I call again and he twists his head. I must look pretty bad, because he gasps. “D—dad?”

The boat is still rocking, but not enough to tip. Water sloshes back and forth. Kyle pushes himself onto his hands and knees. We both look around. Beneath the streaks of rain, the sea is dead calm. No swell. No big whitecaps. Nothing.

“Shit. What happened?” says my son. His face appears bleached. “What was that?”

I’ve been boating in these waters for going on two decades but can’t explain what hit us. If it was the wake from a big cargo ship there’d have been more waves. That wave came from nowhere. Was it a whale? I shake my head. “I…I don’t know,” I say.

The engine has stalled. My hands are shaking so hard I have trouble restarting it. It roars to life once, twice, only to cut out.

"Daaaad! You're flooding it," says Kyle, his voice a hysterical whine. "It won't start! It won't start! You've flooded it!"

I grit my teeth. "Fine, you try."

If he hears, he doesn't respond but just hugs his knees. "My god. My god. She's here. She's here." He says it over and over again.

"Shut up!" I yell, and my son stops. He presses his palms to his cheeks. I force myself to count to ten before trying the motor again, terrified that Kyle's right: If the motor is flooded, we're stuck out here.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Elka Ray’s Bio

At the age of eleven, Elka Ray co-founded the Double Trouble Detective Agency. She’s been on the lookout for mysteries ever since. Elka’s latest book, “What You Don’t Know: Tales of Obsession, Mystery & Murder in Southeast Asia”, takes readers on a darkly suspenseful tour of the Far East. Her first novel, a fast-paced romantic adventure titled “Hanoi Jane”, was published by Marshall Cavendish in English and DT Books in Vietnamese. Elka’s next novel, the thriller “Saigon Dark”, will come out with Crimewave Press in November 2016. Elka is also the author and illustrator of a popular series of bilingual kids’ picture books about Vietnam.

Elka divides her time between Hoi An in Central Vietnam and Canada’s scenic Vancouver Island. When she’s not writing, drawing or reading she’s in - or near -the ocean.

Contact: Email Elka at elka.k.ray (at) gmail.com

Agent: Elka is represented by Amy Tipton at Signature Literary Agency

http://elkaray.com/542-2/

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Elka Ray’s website

http://elkaray.com/

Elka Ray Facebook Author Page

https://www.facebook.com/elkaraybooks/

Elka Ray on Twitter

https://twitter.com/elkaray

Elka Ray on Goodreads

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5027427.Elka_Ray

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE

Elka will be awarding a $20 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway