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WINNING TEXAS

Nancy Stancill

Genre: Mystery / Thriller / Suspense

Publisher: Black Rose Writing

Date of Publication: April 26, 2016

# of pages: 230

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When a female body is found floating in the Houston Ship Channel, Annie Price, an investigative journalist for a struggling Houston newspaper, is propelled into a dangerous web of intrigue. She must solve a complex mystery that includes a corrupt strip club empire, a ruthless human trafficking scheme, and deadly competition between two separatist groups seeking to impose their twisted visions on the Lone Star State. As two murders hit close to home, Annie and a fellow reporter risk death to expose the hidden secrets of a Texas ranch.

PRAISE FOR WINNING TEXAS:

“Sex traffickers and guns-for-hire meet in a nefarious plot to see Texas secede and America shaken to its core. Witty, gritty and filled with brilliantly realized characters, this book is a pure delight for lovers of suspense as the ever-dogged Annie Price risks life and limb to uncover the truth.” – Tony D’Souza, author of Mule

Winning Texas is a moody thriller, an ode to people with outsized dreams and the ones they prey on; to those who populate the city by day, and those who rule the night. In the wake of L.A.-noir and Florida glare, Nancy Stancill gives us Bayou City grime. In her pages, Houston seduces and leaves us breathless, begging for more.” – Stefan Kiesbye, author of The Staked Plains

Nancy Stancill “captures a newsroom’s camaraderie and angst . . . while her descriptions of Houston and the whole of Texas make you feel the heat and see its beauty.” — Mary Cornatzer, The News & Observer

PURCHASE LINKS:

AMAZON

BLACK ROSE WRITING

WINNING TEXAS is a thrilling ride through the world of investigative reporter Annie Price.

Annie Price always seems to be in the middle of something. But she’s an investigative journalist with the last remaining print newspaper in Houston, TX, so she’s pretty used to that. On the heels of a wild story about the secessionist movement in the state, which led to it’s leaders fleeing the country, Annie is thrown back into the chaos. She learns that the secessionist group is still active while exposing a local business mogul for his activities in a large human trafficking ring. Along the way, Annie learns a thing or two about herself, and watches progress take the thing she loves most and tear it apart.

This was a great story, full of all of the things you would expect from investigative suspense. The plot was complex and multi-layered and moved the story along at a pace that kept the reader in the game. The characters were authentic, and easy to visualize and follow. I liked that they were all very human, faulted. The subject of the book was realistic and follows many of the real things that make the news in Texas everyday. I applaud the author for addressing the very real issue of human trafficking in Texas. I highly recommend this book to readers who enjoy a mystery with a crazy ride. Lovers of political suspense and investigative thrillers will get a kick out of this one as well.

Nancy Stancill spent more than 30 years as a newspaper reporter and editor before she began writing fiction full-time. She was an award-winning investigative reporter at the Houston Chronicle and the Charlotte (N.C.) Observer and worked as a reporter and editor at other newspapers in Texas, Virginia and California. Stancill is a journalism graduate of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and received her master’s in creative writing from the University of Tampa in Florida in 2015. She and her husband lived in London for three years before moving back to the United States in 2012. She has a son in Virginia and she lives in Charlotte, N.C. with her husband, Len Norman, and black cat, Spud. Saving Texas was her first novel. Winning Texas is her second.