Steven Montano

Steven Montano

About

Steven Montano started writing at the ageof 18 and never really stopped.  Agraduate with distinction from the University of Colorado at Boulder, Steventook his Creative Writing degree and became an accountant, instead.  He still hasn’t figured out why.

Many line items and a few published Dungeons& Dragons adventures later, Steven and his family wound up inWashington State, where Steven is working on the Blood Skies series.  His wife runs a popular online yarn shop, andhis kids just drive him nuts.

Dark Pursuit (Emily Stone Series Book 5)

Dark Pursuit (Emily Stone Series Book 5)

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Description

<p>AWARD WINNER for ACTION - 2015 International Book Awards Readers' Favorite<br />SECOND PLACE AWARD WINNER - 2015 East Texas Writers Guild First Chapter Book Awards<br /><br />Vigilante detective Emily Stone has covertly hunted down killers and closed more serial cases than most seasoned homicide cops combined. Her exceptional profiling skills and forensic techniques, along with deductive crime scene investigations, have made her a compelling force that cannot be beat.<br />She has reached her ultimate breaking point and now must face her toughest opponent yet – her biggest fears.<br /><br />With preciseness, the Tick-Tock Killer has taken his next child victim and promised to dump the body precisely four days later, mocking police and the community. Stone struggles to balance her inner demons and ghosts from the past, against the wits of a brutal and cunning serial killer in an all-out battle of psychological warfare.<br /><br />Can Stone save the next child in time? Dark Pursuit is an action-packed cat and mouse game that will take you to dark places rarely explored.<br /><br /><br />From the Award-winning Emily Stone Thriller Series:<br /><br />“… a highly recommended pick!” The Midwest Book Review<br /><br />“Intriguing alpha female character… impressive action scenes.” Kirkus Reviews<br /><br />“The writing is impeccable and the story is fresh and tight.” Best Selling Author Gary Ponzo<br /> </p>

Story Behind The Book

Reviews

<span style="color:#333333;font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:12px;line-height:normal;"></span><p style="line-height:18px;">Posted by Jennifer Williams on <strong><a title="Amazon.com" href="http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Skies-ebook/dp/B0054GQHIY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&amp;s=digital-text&amp;qid=1307332213&amp;sr=1-1" style="color:#660000;border-top-width:0px;border-right-width:0px;border-bottom-width:0px;border-left-width:0px;">Amazon.com</a></strong> and <strong><a title="Goodreads" href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/170480321" style="color:#660000;border-top-width:0px;border-right-width:0px;border-bottom-width:0px;border-left-width:0px;">Goodreads</a> </strong>6/6/2011</p><p style="line-height:18px;">“I had the privilege of reading Blood Skies before it was released and was pretty impressed. Steven Montano has taken an old, tired vampire genre and tossed it on its head — then handed it a machine gun and a bag of grenades. I am particularly impressed with Montano’s ability to build worlds. His post-apocalyptic Earth is fresh, deep, and loaded with new ideas that don’t bore. His battles are creative. His characters are hilariously sarcastic, especially when the chips are down. I had no idea how attached I had become to the main character, Cross, until the story began to take turns that were impossible to foresee. I was never bored while reading this book. Definitely recommend.”</p><p style="line-height:18px;">5 out of 5 star review</p><p style="line-height:18px;"></p><span style="color:#333333;font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:12px;line-height:normal;"></span><p style="line-height:18px;">Posted by Andrea Thompson on <strong><a title="The Bookish Babes" href="http://thebookishbabes.blogspot.com/2011/06/review-of-blood-skies-by-steve-montano.html" style="color:#660000;border-top-width:0px;border-right-width:0px;border-bottom-width:0px;border-left-width:0px;">The Bookish Babes</a> </strong>6/13/2011</p><p style="line-height:18px;">“Every now and then, I like to read something out of my “wheel house”.  So, when Steve Montano asked me if I would read and review his book, Blood Skies, I happily accepted. . If you’ve read any on my reviews, you can see that Blood Skies is definitely not the genre of book I typically read.  When I finish a book, I almost always write a review immediately. Other times, I like to let the book “stew”  and then write a review. Blood Skies is the type of book that I needed to let stew.</p><p style="line-height:18px;font-size:12px;"><span style="font-size:11px;font-family:'Comic Sans MS';">Blood Skies is what I’ll call an “apocalyptic fantasy”.  The story revolves around Eric Cross, who is a warlock and a soldier in the Southern Claw Military.  Warlocks and witches have spirits, a visible being who is literally a part of them. The spirit  heals, protects and fights for the person they belong to. Cross and his comrades, who includes his sister, Snow, who is a witch, are literally out to save the world. To fully explain the workings of their world would take a review longer than I want to write and definitely longer than you want to read.  But here’s what I do want to tell you:</span></p><p style="line-height:18px;">Steve Montano is a writer with a beautiful, poetic style.  Montano is somehow able to paint a vivid picture of a bleak world. His world building is stunningly descriptive. His descriptions of the land, the sky, the sometimes terrible creatures who inhabit this world are so consuming, I  sometimes had to step back for a bit. The terror had me literally holding my breath.</p><p style="line-height:18px;">Besides world-building, the author also did a brilliant job of conveying Cross’ emotions.  He gave an in-depth account of the terror and Cross’ struggles to maintain his sanity.  Surprisingly, there is also a tremendous amount of love in Blood Skies. Eric Cross has such deep, sometimes shattering love for his team, but especially his sister, Snow, and his spirit.  Sometimes, those passages regarding that love almost brought tears to my eyes. I wanted to share a tiny bit:</p><p style="line-height:18px;">(Regarding Snow)“…and seeing her there now, so tall, so beautiful, filled him with worry and nearly brought a tear to his eyes.”</p><p style="line-height:18px;">(Regarding Spirit) “His spirit still held him as if impassioned, and she was stuck to his skin like lover’s sweat.”</p><p style="line-height:18px;">I’ll be the first to say that Blood Skies is not for everyone. But if you’re like me, and want to step out of your comfort zone, Blood Skies is a good place to start.”</p><p style="line-height:18px;">4 out of 5 star review</p>