Free Audio Books

To encourage listener reviews, Audible provides me with a limited number of coupons for free copies of the audio editions of my books including the newest, Treasure of the Diary. If you would like one of the FREE copies go to COUPONSor click on the picture of my books.

The audio editions of my books are produced by Audible and are distributed by Audible, Amazon and iTunes.

If you are not already a fan of audio, you are in for a real treat. You will discover that narrators breathe life into the characters and amplify their emotions. And activities like driving or exercising become reading (listening) time. So, the number of books you can check off your wish list every year will explode. You will be able to enjoy all those books you just didn’t have time to get to before switching to audio versions.

If you do take one of the free copies, please consider posting a review on Audible or Amazon.

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All my books are available from your favorite neighborhood bookstore or online source. Ebook and print editions are also available on Amazon, Google Play, Apple iBooks,  Smashwords, and other online bookstores. Audio editions are available on Amazon, iTunes and directly from Audible.com. For signed copies go to my website, tomcollinsauthor.com. Exploring Asheville was the 2022 winner of the Independent Press Award and the NYC Big Book Award for its literary category. My novel, Beyond Visual Range, was NYC Big Book 2022 Award’s Distinguished Favorite in Military Fiction.

Law Firm Mysteries

While my last three books are doing very well, I was disappointed to see that my earlier law firm mysteries are no longer  getting the reader activity I think they should—especially among practicing attorneys and law firm administrative staff. The novels are a three book series dealing with dysfunctional law firms within the Mark Rollins Adventure series. In Mark Rollins and the Rainmaker, someone wants to kill the law firm’s public face—its rainmaker. In the Puppeteer, a lawyer considered a rising political star dies from a gunshot wound in Nashville’s notorious Printer’s Alley. The final law firm mystery in the three book series, The Claret Murders, occurs during a devastating Nashville flood.

All three novels are available in digital, print and audio formats. They are available through your favorite bookstore and from all the popular online sources including Amazon—the digital edition is only $2.99, and the audio versions shorten any car trip.

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All my books are available from your favorite neighborhood bookstore or online source. Ebook and print editions are also available on Amazon, Google Play, Apple iBooks,  Smashwords, and other online bookstores. Audio editions are available on Amazon, iTunes and directly from Audible.com. For signed copies go to my website, tomcollinsauthor.com. Exploring Asheville was the 2022 winner of the Independent Press Award and the NYC Big Book Award for its literary category. My novel, Beyond Visual Range, was NYC Big Book 2022 Award’s Distinguished Favorite in Military Fiction.

2022 Book Awards

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 23, 2022
Media Contact:
M. Thomas (Tom) Collins
(615) 948-1544
Tom.collins@i65n.com

Books by Local Author Tom Collins Earn Top Awards

Tom Collins’s book, Exploring Asheville—Its History Attractions, Mysteries, Ghosts, and Tall Tales earned the top spot as the 2022 winner in the regional category at both the Independent Press Awards and the NYC Big Books Awards. Also winning in the NYC Big Book Awards was his novel, Beyond Visual Range, as a 2022 Distinguished Favorite in Military Fiction.

M. Thomas (Tom) Collins writes from his home in Franklin, Tennessee, where his characters come to life and frequent familiar places in the bucolic middle Tennessee landscape and the majestic mountains of Western North Carolina. A pioneer entrepreneur of the information technology industry, Tom is now retired from the commercial world and devotes his time to creating his mystery series, Mark Rollins Adventures, and writing about Asheville and Western North Carolina.

Regarding his two award winning books, Collins explained:

As an author, the awards are even more meaningful because the books are so different from each other. “Exploring Asheville” is not your typical travel book. It addresses the Western North Carolina destination as a whole to make the reader ‘Asheville Smart’—to understand why it’s called “The weirdest, happiest, quirkiest, most haunted place in America.” As for “Beyond Visual Range”, it is the fictional story of a paraplegic former female fighter pilot turned drone pilot who exposes the reader to the moral injury suffered by drone pilots deployed on kill missions.”

Books by Tom Collins are available from your favorite neighborhood bookstore. Print and eBook editions are also available on Amazon, Google Play, Apple iBooks, Smashwords, and other online bookstores. Audio editions are available on Amazon, iTunes and directly from Audible.com.

To inquire about a review copy or an interview, call (615) 948-1544 or email tom.collins@i65n.com.

Road Trip

Thinking of taking a road trip this summer? Why not to Western North Carolina and the city they call the weirdest, happiest, quirkiest place in America, Asheville. If you are lucky, you might be able to get a room at the historic Applewood Manor and if not, there are other great bed and breakfast Inns as well as hotels ready to welcome you. To get ready for your trip, visit your favorite bookstore, Amazon, or other online source for a copy of my award winning book, Exploring Asheville—Its History, Attractions, Mysteries, Ghosts, and Tall Tales. It is available in print and digital formats.

Despite the price of gas, traveling by car beats flying given their current record of cancelations and delays. And you can make the traveling time to your destination go a lot faster by listening to an audio book—all my mysteries are available in audio. I suggest my most recent Mark Rollins Adventure, Beyond Visual Range.

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All of my books are available from Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million as well as your favorite neighborhood bookstore. Ebook and print editions are also available on Amazon, Google Play, Apple iBooks,  Smashwords, and other online bookstores. Audio editions are available on Amazon, iTunes and directly from Audible.com. The latest book, Exploring Asheville, was the winner of the Independent Press Award for its literary category.

UFOs May be Earthly After All

In my book, Beyond Visual Range, a rogue military group, in an effort to stop impeachment of the President, has taken control of a top secrete space plane, the X-37B. From their perch in outer space, they use laser technology to create visions of images (orbs) to confuse and frighten their targets. It turns out, that the ability to create UFO type images may not be entirely fiction. On May 29, 2021, Jeffery Scott Shapiro, writing in the Wall Street Journal, reported that the military has a pending patent application for a method to create laser holographic images (UFOs) as a decoy to detract enemy fighter pilots, incoming missiles, or other threats.

Shapiro points out that the patent is only pending, and the U.S. technology may or may not be operational. But he points out that a foreign adversary may already be using something similar. He notes that in 2017, Russia claimed it had achieved “next generation” laser plasma weaponry.

Beyond Visual Range is a Mark Rollins adventure mystery. In the story two women drone pilots from the Nashville area find themselves in the middle of a military attempted coup. One is a former fighter pilot who, after a crash, now flies from a wheelchair. This dynamic female drone crew has to defend the country from the X-37B, now under control of a rogue military crew with the ability to strike the earth with weapons of nuclear like destructive power.

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For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print, eBook and audio editions are available from Amazon. Most online bookstores carry one or all of the various editions (print, eBook and audio) including Barnes & Noble, Google Play/books, Apple iTunes’ iBookstore, and Smashwords.com.

Eight Books

Since retiring from the commercial world, I have published eight books. Six are mysteries—the Mark Rollins Adventures series. One, my latest, is a series of short stories, Stories from Applewood Manor, that explore the unique city Asheville North Carolina and its 100 year old bed and breakfast inn, the Applewood Manor. And another is the management guidebook, The Language of Excellence filled with practical, easy to understand advice for creating a team in pursuit of excellence—a team that understands that excellence must be earned through the eyes of those they serve and can only be maintained through constant innovation.

Recently, Katherine Davis posted about the guidebook on LinkedIn and told the story of the mirrors I issued to all members of the Juris, Inc. team:

“While in Seattle Washington at Pike Place Market, I stopped at a kiosk of a woodworker who made mirrors on a wooden stand. That is when I arranged to purchase the mirrors--one for every employee including new hires with instructions to position the mirror so that you could see yourself talking on the phone and the message that people can hear your smile over the phone. The unspoken message was that they could tell when you were not smiling."

Juris, Inc. no longer exist. It was purchased by LexisNexis® in 2007. What was remarkable is how many former Juris, Inc. team members, who have moved on to other companies, responded that they still have their mirror and still have it on their desk next to the phone.

Of all my books, I still consider The Language of Excellence to be the most important. The Language of Excellence is a powerful training tool—one that makes doing and saying the right things, making the right decisions and avoiding the wrong ones, a habit.

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For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and eBook editions are available on Amazon, Google Play, Apple iBooks, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, and other online bookstores. Audio editions are available on Amazon, iTunes and directly from Audible.com. Check out the latest book by Tom Collins, Stories from Applewood Manor, that explores Asheville, North Carolina’s History, Mysteries, Ghosts, and Tall Tales.  
Published by I-65 North, Inc.

Audio Books

With vacation time approaching consider adding my Mark Rollins Adventure series of mysteries to your Audio Book library. Nothing makes the miles fly by faster than a good book.

All six of my mystery novels are available in audio editions as well as in digital and print formats on Amazon.com. This includes:

1. Mark Rollins’ New Career & the Women’s Health Club

2. Mark Rollins and the Rainmaker

3. Mark Rollins and the Puppeteer

4. The Claret Murders, a Mark Rollins Adventure

5. Diversion, a Mark Rollins Adventure

6. Beyond Visual Range, a Mark Rollins Adventure

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 For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and eBook editions are available on Amazon, Google Play, Apple iBooks, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, and other online bookstores. Audio editions are available on Amazon, iTunes and directly from Audible.com. Collins is also the resident author for Stories from Applewood.  The Applewood Manor is the longest continuously operating bed and breakfast style hotel in Asheville, The untra short stories are about Asheville including its ghost, mysteries and tall tales. Check out the latest Tom Collins Novel, Beyond Visual Range, available in print, digital and audio.  
Published by I-65 North, Inc.

What One Reviewer Had To Say

The reviewer preceded his review comments with the statement that Beyond Visual Range should be required reading. Since my writing is financed from royalties that would be great—I wish! While it will not become required reading, I hope you will read it and if you do, I hope you will post a review on Amazon, Goodreads, or another book related site.

The technology exists. The possibilities are all too real... and frightening. Once I started into it, I couldn't stop reading until the end. It was captivating and well written all the way through.

Politics usually sends me off in another direction when I'm looking for something good to read, but the technical aspects got my attention. This novel peels the skin from the flesh and bone of our everyday life. Not only can this happen; some or all of it probably is happening. Not only is our future in the balance, our very existence is too.

Right now, you can still take advantage of the one month sale ending June 31st. Until then you can purchase the Kindle edition for only $0.99. July 1st the price reverts to $4.99. And don’t forget that the audio editions of Diversion and The Claret Murders are currently on sale for $7.49. Shortly Beyond Visual Range will also be available in an audio edition. Production has been completed, we are just waiting on Audible to distribute the finished product to Amazon, iTunes and other retailers.

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For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and eBook and audio editions are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online bookstores.
Published by I-65 North, Inc.

Four Stars

Foreword Clarion Review just gave Beyond Visual Range four stars!
Here is the full review:

Ending on a hopeful note, Beyond Visual Range is a military thriller with a tinge of political realism.

In Tom Collins’s timely novel Beyond Visual Range, drone technology collides with a political intrigue that’s reminiscent of current events.

Despite a time of great economic growth and nationwide security, President Tanner is in the hot seat amid allegations of misuse of power. The Speaker of the House leads the charge, raising allegations that Tanner violated his oath of office and ignored foreign sovereignty. In a staggering twist, a splinter group within the American military steps forward and threatens to use force if Tanner isn’t removed from office. Meanwhile, a pair of drone operators are swept up in the conspiracy, as the drones they pilot are commandeered and manipulated into striking foreign civilian targets. The commander, Major Samantha Miller, turns to Mark Rollins and his off-books team for help with preventing the future loss of life.

The book continues the adventures of Mark Rollins and the Women’s Health Club—which operates as a front for a private operations group that protects America from threats foreign and domestic—but functions as a standalone thriller. Context is revealed when needed, allowing the current issue of drone misuse and impeachment to remain in the spotlight.

Major Miller embodies the strong characterization present throughout the narrative. Ample space is given to the sudden loss of control of the drones while hinting at a mystery in Miller’s background—the accident that led to her winding up in a wheelchair. At first introduction, she seems to be noncentral, but careful backstory reveals and her professional relationship with Rollins center her as a capable, compelling lead. The primary cast—Rollins, his team, and a select group of military people and civilians—are equally developed.

Swapping between the drone threat and the impeachment proceedings, the story is well paced. In a literal twist, a threat from Earth’s orbit requires that the story enter space. Dialogue directs much movement, though exposition also comes through prose at the proper times. Intense sequences featuring military jargon stand out, and Major Miller and Rollins have distinct voices, helping to showcase events from both of their viewpoints. The book’s harrowing aerial battles and contemplative discussions are both grounded thanks to clear details and staging. However, when characters take notes or present material, unusual formatting overshadows the narrative; words run together in such spaces.

Ending on a hopeful note, Beyond Visual Range is a military thriller with a tinge of political realism.

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For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and eBook editions are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online bookstores. Audio versions of The Claret Murders and  Diversion are available from iTunes, Audibles and Amazon. eBook editions are also available through Apple iTunes’ iBook’s Store and Smashwords.com. 
Published by I-65 North, Inc.

Readings from Beyond Visual Range

This is the opening segment of chapter one:

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For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and eBook editions are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online bookstores. Audio versions of The Claret Murders and  Diversion are available from iTunes, Audibles and Amazon. eBook editions are also available through Apple iTunes’ iBook’s Store and Smashwords.com.
 Be sure to check out the latest Tom Collins Novel, Beyond Visual Range on Amazon.
Published by I-65 North, Inc.

The Book is on the Printing Press!

Ingram has the print editions of Beyond Visual Range in the print queue. Unfortunately, the company just sent out the following notice:

“Please note that we are extending our current print turnaround times for some U.S. order types as we work diligently to uphold our commitment to the publishing industry while also protecting the health and well-being of our associates.”

Nevertheless, I would expect to see the print editions on Amazon within ten days and the eBook editions within two to three weeks. I must admit that my predictions on turnaround times have not been exactly accurate to date.  However, I think you will find this sixth book in the Mark Rollins Adventure series worth waiting for. To remind you about the story check out the video below:

One of the interesting things about the content of this and other videos is in the background. Check out the artwork and the bookcase contents—I always do when seeing interviews on TV or watching other video presentations.  

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For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and eBook editions are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online bookstores. Audio versions of The Claret Murders and  Diversion are available from iTunes, Audibles and Amazon. eBook editions are also available through Apple iTunes’ iBook’s Store and Smashwords.com.  Look for book number six in the Mark Rollins Adventure series coming soon.
Published by I-65 North, Inc.

Where is My Next Book?

Due to my knee replacement, I have made zero progress on my next book. Pain and pain medications are not compatible with creative writing.

I have been, however, taking advantage of my convalescence to listen to a lot of books on Audible. A fun one was Fannie Flagg’s The All-Girl Filling Station’s Last Reunion. Better than the book itself, was listening to Fannie Flagg’s vocal interpretation of the characters as she narrated the story.

I also read the first of fifteen of Margaret Coel’s mysteries that take place in the Arapaho Wind River Reservation. And, I have listened to six of R. Allen Chappell’s books set in the Navajo Nation.

Coel’s and Chappell’s mysteries are wonderful examples of using strong geographical and cultural canvases to tell their stories. In several books, Coal successfully takes a bit of Arapaho history and uses it as kernel for a completing fictitious story. The little bit of real life at the story’s center makes her mysteries even more believable.

I have not spend all my time on mysteries. For book research I read Skunk Works by Ben R. Rich, Bogeys and Bandits by Robert Gant, Viper Pilot by Dan Hampton, TopGun Days by Dave Bio Baranek, Operation Overflight by Gentry and Powers

I already have the story for book seven, my next book, in my head. When I finally start putting it into the computer, it will be a better story because of time I have spent with Flagg, Coel, Chappell, and others.

Writers don’t just write; they read!  They read a lot.

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For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and eBook editions are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online bookstores. Audio versions of The Claret Murders and  Diversion are available from iTunes, Audibles and Amazon. eBook editions are also available through Apple iTunes’ iBook’s Store and Smashwords.com. 
Published by I-65 North, Inc.

Knee Replacement Recovery

At this point, I can honestly say my new knee is great. The problem is all the old stuff that connects to the new knee. 

Recovery from knee replacement is harder than I expected. Progress is not linear. There is no straight line to “better.”

After a few weeks of rehab and continuous improvement, I started to have terrible pain when my patella, or kneecap, stopped tracking correctly. It seems the muscles on the lateral side of my leg were overpowering those on the medial side pulling the patella to the left where it had no place to go. That took several weeks of therapy with an Electronic Muscle Stimulator to get under control. Things were on the mend again and then I developed iliopsoas bursitis. Iliopsoas bursitis is an inflammatory response in the bursa located under the iliopsoas muscles (hip flexor muscles). The iliopsoas muscle is a group of two muscles located toward the front of the inner hip. The result is pain and a lot of it when lifting the foot or leg—so much so that range of motion becomes extremely limited.  Forget stairs—you just can’t do it!

Right now, I’m giving therapy a rest. That seems to be the treatment—if it hurts don’t do it!

I saw the surgeon a week ago to hear something they don’t tell you until after the surgery. “It takes about year to fully recover.”  Whatever happened to “We'll have you up and walking in no time.”

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For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and eBook editions are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online bookstores. Audio versions of The Claret Murders and  Diversion are available from iTunes, Audibles and Amazon. eBook editions are also available through Apple iTunes’ iBook’s Store and Smashwords.com. 
Published by I-65 North, Inc.

Have you missed me?

Believe me, when I say I would rather have been anywhere other than where I was.   I was in the hospital—double pneumonia.

It all started innocently enough.  It is spring time in Tennessee, so my primary doctor concluded that I had a touch of a cold along with a heavy dose of allergy. Then he packed his bag and left for a medical conference in Brazil!  Things only got worse from there. Intense coughing and difficulty breathing.

I had opted for a concierge doctor in hopes that such an arrangement meant improved access and medical attention.  With my concierge doc off in Brazil, I called his office and told the assistant I was coming in anyway, and that I needed one of the other doctors in the group to see me.  I do have to say they shuffled schedules as needed.  The backup doctor got to me without much of a wait—took blood samples and a chess x-ray. Since I had difficulty breathing and some leg swelling, the substitute doctor apparently decided my problem was heart related. He concluded the coughing was due to excess fluids. The first step was to reduce the fluids to stop the coughing, and then they would arrange for a heart workup. The doctor prescribed some “water pills” to reduce fluids and sent me home.

The uncontrollable coughing continued, and I was no longer able to sleep.  After two days, I called the doctor and reported that I was still having trouble breathing and could not stop coughing.  Their answer was go to emergency room.  I did, and the emergency room staff was top touch.  They did a CT scan shortly after I arrived and determined I had double pneumonia. Finally, with the correct diagnoses I started getting the treatment I required.

Am I over it now?  No, I’m out of the hospital but weak and still short of breath.  I think it is going to take quite a while before I’m anywhere close to well!

Of course, I will certainly follow up with the heart specialist. I suppose it is possible that some heart problem may have contributed to the onset of pneumonia.  I hope that isn’t the case. My ticker seems to be ticking away just as it always has.

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For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to the TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and eBook editions are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online bookstores. For Amazon go to www.amazon.com/Tom-Collins. For an audio edition of The Claret Murders go to http://amzn.com/B00IV5ZJEI. eBook editions are also available through Apple iTunes’ iBook’s Store and Smashwords.com. For the new adventure novel on Amazon go to Diversion, A Mark Rollins Adventure

 Published by I-65 North, Inc.

I Live to Write Another Day

Time to go home again.

Hopefully the Franklin birds have moved on to find another sucker with a bird feeder and an unlimited budget for bird welfare. I leave behind well fed birds of Sanibel who actually work for their food.

Sanibel Island is known for its shells which were mysteriously missing this year. I understand that the missing shells are the result of result of unintended consequences from the September 2017 big one—Irma. Apparently, Irma cleaned out the crustacean beds lying off Sanibel’s shores. That wasn’t something anyone was expecting. Sounds like something our government might have been in charge of. Congress is the master of unintended consequences.

Had a great time in the Sun except for adding a two-inch gash in the top of my head. Just as I was raising up, getting something out of the car trunk, the trunk lid decided to come down. The local doctor put things right, and I live to write another day.

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For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to the TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and eBook editions are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online bookstores. For Amazon go to www.amazon.com/Tom-Collins. For an audio edition of The Claret Murders go to http://amzn.com/B00IV5ZJEI. eBook editions are also available through Apple iTunes’ iBook’s Store and Smashwords.com. For the new adventure novel on Amazon go to Diversion: a Mark Rollins Adventure. Published by I-65 North, Inc.

End to Amazon's Exclusive Rights & Other Updates

Until two weeks ago, Amazon had the exclusive right to market the eBook edition of my latest Mark Rollins mystery, Diversion. That exclusive period ended January 21, 2018. The eBook edition is now available for Barnes & Noble’s Nook, and the ePub edition is available from most eBook retailers and online book services including Smashwords. Within days it should become available, like my other five books, in Apple’s iBooks.

Speaking of iBooks, if you are among the many people who use The Language of Excellence as a management guide, download the book on your iPhone for an easy to use and always available reference tool.

Work is also underway for an audio edition of Diversion. I had the opportunity on January 28th, to listen to some of the completed chapters. I was impressed with the clarity and professionalism of the reader’s voice. If you prefer to listen to your books as your drive, you’ll be happy to know that within a few weeks Diversion with join The Claret Murders on Audible. Depending on demand, I may add the other three Mark Rollins mysters to Audible. 

On January 23th, I spoke at the breakfast meeting of the Exchange Club in Brentwood. The topic was my book, Diversion. Of course, that also included discussing the opioid crisis. Diversion is a fictional story, but that doesn’t mean that the opioid problem isn’t real. I was recently interviewed for the website Serious Reading. One of the interview questions was “How realistic are your books?” – and this was my answer. "I particularly like the disclaimer that my lawyers came up with. It has been on the copyright page of every one of my novels.

This is a work of fiction. While some of the names, character, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination and some are real, the events depicted herein are entirely fictitious and should not be considered real or factual.

That is a completely accurate description of my mysteries. They deal with real places, real events, and conditions to tell a fictional story. The Claret Murders uses the real-life Nashville flood as its canvas. Diversion uses the opioid crisis as the backdrop for its story.” 

Diversion is now available in eBook, paperback and hard cover editions soon to be follow by an audio version. ForewordClarion Reviews recently gave the book three stars and wrote,

“This dramatic thriller reveals many dark truths about the opioid crisis. Fueled by a murder mystery and a missing girl, Tom Collins's page-turning thriller Diversion explores the opioid crisis and illegal drugs through myriad plotlines.... The book's many antagonists add intrigue and excitement. Lena and Carlos, two drug-dealing crime lords in Florida's pill mill enterprise, are crooked and manipulative, and their scheming creates constant uncertainty as to what will happen next. Tom Lewis and Rocco, two other corrupt adversaries, are sleazy and dishonest, and their role in the story results in astonishing developments." ForewordClarion Reviews

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For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to the TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and eBook editions are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online bookstores. For Amazon go to www.amazon.com/Tom-Collins. For an audio edition of The Claret Murders go to http://amzn.com/B00IV5ZJEI. eBook editions are also available through Apple iTunes’ iBook’s Store and Smashwords.com. For the new adventure novel on Amazon go to Diversion: a Mark Rollins Adventure.
Published by I-65 North, Inc.

SeriousReading.com

The web site seriousreading.com publishes interviews of authors like yours truly, i.e., Interview of author Tom Collins. It also includes an author's blog were participating authors post articles. What makes seriousreading.com different from other book sites? This is how they answer that question:

"On Serious Reading, we do one thing: read, review and recommend books for tens of thousands of reading enthusiasts:

•  We have over 150,000 subscribers, fans and followers.
• We deliver catalog recommendations to over 5,000 bookstores and libraries.
• We send thousands of recommendations to readers looking for their next read."

Here is sample from their interview of me: 
Question: "Have you ever written a character based on the real you in some part?"
Answer: "My wife complains that there is too much of me in the character Mark Rollins. Make no mistake, Rollins is a fictional character, but what makes for realistic fiction is a dollop of realism. Rollins is my main actor, and it was natural for me to build him on a framework I knew well. Thus, he lives in the surrounding where I live. He frequents the same restaurants. He likes the same food, drinks the same wine, etc., and that makes it much easier for me to write stories that ring true."

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For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to the TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and eBook editions are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online bookstores. For Amazon go to www.amazon.com/Tom-Collins. For an audio edition of The Claret Murders go to http://amzn.com/B00IV5ZJEI. eBook editions are also available through Apple iTunes’ iBook’s Store and Smashwords.com. For the new adventure novel on Amazon go to Diversion: a Mark Rollins Adventure.
Published by I-65 North, Inc.