February Full Moon and Huntress series sale, 99c

The last few nights I’ve been restless sleeping because of the incredibly bright waxing moon, full tonight.

 

The February full moon is called variously, by various Native tribes: Snow Moon, Wolf Moon, and Bitter Moon.

 

I took BITTER MOON as the name for the fourth book in the HUNTRESS MOON series - all six books currently on sale 99c each - and you can add RC Bray’s award-winning audio for just $3.99).

 

  

 

As you might guess by the cover, this book takes Roarke deep into the desert, following a sixteen year old cold case that may be the key to Cara's bloody history. It's probably the most mystical of the books, unfolding on a dual time line, with the present and past intersecting as Roarke and fourteen-year old Cara both race to stop a sadistic serial predator.

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are new characters I think you'll love as much as I do, and you'll find out much more about Cara's past. And there are new settings! The California desert is possibly my favorite place on the planet, and for this one I'll be taking you to the magical Coachella Valley (yes, home to the Coachella music festival) and the wine country of Temecula.

 

I believe BITTER MOON is the best of the series, and a lot of reviewers agree.

 

 

Instead of trying to describe why on my own, I’ll leave it to Nancy Bilyeau, reviewing for ITW’s The Big Thrill:

 

 

In the fourth novel in the series, the action is suspenseful, the atmosphere eerie, the characters nuanced.

 

But BITTER MOON accomplishes a truly remarkable feat: It is both a prequel that explores the harrowing history and psychological development of Cara Lindstrom as it unfolded 16 years ago in a town in the California desert, and a present day narrative that follows FBI agent Matthew Roarke as he investigates her history—and finds himself on the trail of long-ago sadistic predator who wa never caught.

 

With a plot that swivels back and forth between alternating points of view, the two characters are literally in the same place but sixteen years apart in time, their arcs drawing closer and closer to a tense finish.

 

Sokoloff makes further choices that push the novel into fresh territory.  What puts Roarke in more danger is that he is not on the job as an FBI agent during BITTER MOON. At the end of the preceding novel, he was shaken and disturbed by what happened to Cara. Finding answers takes over his life; it’s personal. “I wanted him to stop being an agent,” Sokoloff says. “He was really hit hard. ”

 

As for the inspiration for Cara Lindstrom, she came from several sources. One influence was the atmosphere in California surrounding the murders committed by the Zodiac Killer, a serial killer who was never caught. Another is the true story Sokoloff read about a nine-year-old girl who was at a friend’s house the night a rapist/murderer struck, and the girl herself was attacked and left for dead.

 

“This is a girl who has seen pure evil,” Sokoloff says.

 

* I will add that the plot of BITTER MOON, and Cara’s entire back story, has much to do with another horrific California crime: the abduction, rape, and burning alive of a young high school girl.)

 

Another feature of the series is the melding of careful research into crime forensics with plot developments that could possibly be supernatural. On one page, a reader finds discussion of the latest technology in evidence rape kits; on another, there’s a suggestion of a shamanic vision.

 

“There are some readers who are absolutely convinced that there is nothing supernatural in the books, and others who are convinced that the books are supernatural,” says Sokoloff, laughing.

Full review/interview here:  https://www.thebigthrill.org/2016/10/bitter-moon-by-alexandra-sokoloff/

Thanks, Nancy!!

 

Book 6 of the Huntress Thrillers out today!

Shadow Moon, Book 6 of the Huntress/FBI Thrillers, is out today!

This book is ONLY for readers who have already read the first five books. The series unfolds over six months, one book per month, each culminating in the full moon. Along the way they delve into multiple timelines in the past. Please don't try to start at the end!

Order here for $2.99.

For those new to the series, Book 1 is Huntress Moon. 

Shop for all five previous books here

The series turns tropes of violence against women inside out: this haunted FBI agent  and his team is on the hunt for a female serial killer. Who kills men. Lots of them. All over the country. For years.

If you love a fictional series based on real life horrors, like The Handmaid's Tale or Mindhunter, or if you're just in the mood to see the predators LOSE, read on.

Special Agent Matthew Roarke thought he knew what evil was. He was wrong.

 
Start with Book One - Huntress Moon, and the Award-winning audiobook!

Huntress Moon  - Audiobook

Voice Arts Award for Best Audiobook Narration

Add the audiobook narration to any Huntress ebook for $3.99 or less.

Huntress Moon and my amazing narrator, RC Bray, won a Voice Arts Award for Best Audiobook Narration, Crime & Thriller.

Bob is also the multi-award-winning narrator of the blockbuster audiobook of The Martian, and you can hear his stellar narration in all six Huntress books. (Shadow Moon audiobook out in May, with Bob producing, AND with alternate male/female narration, co-performing with Rinelle Harkin!)

------------------------------------------- SPOILERS ahead! -----------------------------------------------

Does Fate connect us?

Mass killer Cara Lindstrom is in the wind, after a deadly encounter which has left FBI Special Agent Antara Singh questioning her own sanity and fitness to serve. ASAC Matthew Roarke exiles Singh to Portland to work as an assistant to his old mentor, retiring profiler Chuck Snyder—but a series of mysterious break-ins alerts Singh and Snyder to an active threat revolving around an old case: a string of brutal murders of homeless teenagers on the streets of Portland and Seattle.

Singh and Snyder must go on the road and deep into Roarke’s and Cara’s pasts to discover a pattern of destiny and interconnection that holds the key to unsolved child murders, past and present.

 Pre-order for $2.99



If you thought Bitter Moon was complex (I did!) Shadow Moon takes it a couple of notches higher, which may be why I'm a little late on it. :) The book takes place over multiple timelines,
encompassing many episodes from Roarke's and Cara's lives within the framework of a heartbreaking, excruciating, present-day case.

You'll be going on a road trip that includes stops at some of my - I mean Cara's - favorite national parks.

You'll learn things you never knew about all the characters—details and backstories that I've been incorporating into the TV episodes.

On the procedural side, as always, I'm writing about real-life failures in the criminal justice system that could so very easily be fixed with obvious and implementable real-life solutions- IF this country decided to make the elimination of sexual violence and sexual homicide a priority.

And I hope the story will also inspire you to think about the role of destiny and synchronicity in your own life. For me, that's part of the mysterious magic of this world - the signs and convergences that let me know I'm on my path.

As always, I'm looking forward to talking to you about any and all of the books in the series, your synchronicities, your fears, your triumphs, your love lives...

       -- Alex 

Book 6 of the Huntress Thrillers - April 19!

YES - Shadow Moon, Book 6 of the Huntress/FBI Thrillers, is now available for pre-order, for
delivery on April 19!

Pre-order here for $2.99.

Before I talk about the new book below, with spoilers - I want to remind everyone that this series is written to be read in order, starting with Huntress Moon. 

Shop for all five here
The series turns tropes of violence against women inside out: this haunted FBI agent  and his team is on the hunt for a female serial killer. Who kills men. Lots of them. All over the country. For years.

If you love a fictional series based on real life horrors, like The Handmaid's Tale or Mindhunter, or if you're just in the mood to see the predators LOSE, read on.

Special Agent Matthew Roarke thought he knew what evil was. He was wrong.

  

Shop for all five here

Start with Book One - Huntress Moon, and the Award-winning audiobook!

Huntress Moon  - Audiobook

Voice Arts Award for Best Audiobook Narration

Audiobook junkies might want to take the sale opportunity to pick up the ebooks - and add the audiobook narration for $3.99 or less.

Huntress Moon and my amazing narrator, RC Bray, won a Voice Arts Award for Best Audiobook Narration, Crime & Thriller.

Bob is also the multi-award-winning narrator of the blockbuster audiobook of The Martian, and you can hear his stellar narration in all six Huntress books.

------------------------------------------- SPOILERS ahead! -----------------------------------------------

Does Fate connect us?

Mass killer Cara Lindstrom is in the wind, after a deadly encounter which has left FBI Special Agent Antara Singh questioning her own sanity and fitness to serve. ASAC Matthew Roarke exiles Singh to Portland to work as an assistant to his old mentor, retiring profiler Chuck Snyder—but a series of mysterious break-ins alerts Singh and Snyder to an active threat revolving around an old case: a string of brutal murders of homeless teenagers on the streets of Portland and Seattle.

Singh and Snyder must go on the road and deep into Roarke’s and Cara’s pasts to discover a pattern of destiny and interconnection that holds the key to unsolved child murders, past and present.

 Pre-order for $2.99



If you thought Bitter Moon was complex (I did!) Shadow Moon takes it a couple of notches higher, which may be why I'm a little late on it. :) The book takes place over multiple timelines,
encompassing many episodes from Roarke's and Cara's lives within the framework of a heartbreaking, excruciating, present-day case.

You'll learn things you never knew about all the characters—details and backstories that I've been incorporating into the TV episodes.

On the procedural side, as always, I'm writing about real-life failures in the criminal justice system that could so very easily be fixed with obvious and implementable real-life solutions- IF this country decided to make the elimination of sexual violence and sexual homicide a priority.

And I hope the story will also inspire you to think about the role of destiny and synchronicity in your own life. For me, that's part of the mysterious magic of this world - the signs and convergences that let me know I'm on my path.

As always, I'm looking forward to talking to you about any and all of the books in the series, your synchronicities, your fears, your triumphs, your love lives...

       -- Alex 

Huntress series sale, all 5 books 99c!

Book 6 of my Thriller Award-nominated Huntress Moon series releases in March, and Thomas & Mercer has put the first five books of the series on sale,  so you can catch up - just 99 c each on Amazon US. (Huntress Moon may be 1.99 for some people...)

The series turns tropes of violence against women inside out: my haunted FBI agent is on the hunt for a female serial killer. Who kills men. All over the country. For years.

So if you're in the mood to see the predators LOSE, here’s your chance to get a great deal.

         Special Agent Matthew Roarke thought he knew what evil was. He was wrong.

Shop for all five here

  

Huntress Moon  - Audiobook

Voice Arts Award for Best Audiobook Narration

Audiobook junkies might want to take the sale opportunity to pick up the ebook - then add the narration for as low as $1.99.

Huntress Moon and my amazing narrator, RC Bray, won a Voice Arts Award for Best Audiobook Narration, Crime & Thriller.

Bob is also the multi-award-winning narrator of the blockbuster audiobook of The Martian, and you can hear his stellar narration in all five Huntress books.

I wrote the Huntress Moon series because I am sick to death of women and children being raped, tortured, mutilated, and murdered for entertainment in novels, movies, TV shows...

 
And oh yeah - real life. 

The Huntress series turns the tables. The books follow a haunted FBI agent on the hunt for a female serial killer who kills men. A lot of them.

The fact is, one reason novels and film and TV so often depict women as victims is that it’s the stark reality. Since the beginning of time, women haven’t been the predators — we’re the prey. But after all those millennia of women being victims of the most heinous crimes out there wouldn’t you think that someone would finally say: “Enough”? And maybe even strike back?

Well, that’s a story, isn’t it? And it’s a story that needs to be told now, more than ever, given this political nightmare we’re living. The premise is a way to explore the third rail of crime: the inherent, entrenched, misogyny of the system.   

And this series is a way for me to explore SOLUTIONS. I am not writing fantasies about clever serial killers. I’m writing from real-life psychology and pathology, using real-life examples and profiling, to counter some of the absolutely ridiculous and false portrayals of this pathology that we see in film and television and books.

Serial killers are NOT criminal masterminds. They do NOT have artistic or poetic bents. They are serial rapists who have graduated to murder. It’s a facet of the male pattern violence that we are seeing revealed in the #MeToo stories and lists from millions of women and teenagers in the past few weeks. Mass shooters – that’s also male pattern violence, with domestic abuse being a key indicator of the type of man who commits this particular atrocity. 

You read the #MeToo stories - much less LIVE them! - and the totality of it seems overwhelming. The fact that we have a serial sexual predator and blatant misogynist (and racist, white supremacist, xenophobe, looter, plutocrat…) in the most powerful office in the world, determining national and international policy, appointing judges, reversing laws that protect women and children – all that is part of the totality and even more overwhelming.   

However, there ARE solutions. There are practical and actually very obvious ways to CHANGE this horrific culture of rape and predation. I've spent years now, researching and interviewing experts about real psychology, real systemic failures, and real solutions. I've written ALL of that into the Huntress series, enacted by characters who reader really care about.

One of the keys to understanding male violence is that it is NOT universal. It is a percentage of repeat offenders who commit these crimes (whether identified or not) over and over and over again. We need to be very clear on this point. The problem is not all men. The problem is a percentage of repeat offenders. 

To underscore this point, in the Huntress series, my FBI investigators are mostly men, gay and straight, different races - with one key woman on the team and lots of female leads from various social and legal and religious services. I wanted to depict the kind of men I know, that I have always known, that I personally have always been easily able to identify and not randomly lump in with criminals. I wanted to depict their struggle with the overwhelming force of entrenched rape culture, and their difficult fight to work within the system to change it. I wanted the situation of their hunt for this unusual, very female killer to force them to grapple with extremely real life, practical, workable solutions to changing the system.

I cover different facets of different legal and societal systems in each of the books. And in book 5, Hunger Moon, Special Agent Roarke and his team are working toward a very explicit, law-enforcement based, multi-pronged approach to identifying and convicting serial sexual predators. 

If we all, male and female, binary and non-binary, LGBTQ, people of every race and variation thereof, could come to understand that we need to deal with this segment of repeat offenders, we COULD change this. We could.

It isn't overwhelming, when we take a breath and break it down. And commit to doing better for everyone. Women, men - and especially, especially children.


But we need to know the facts. We need to know where the systemic failures have been. And we need to keep speaking out against EVERY predator. Always. 


       -- Alex 

New book! Hollywood vs. the Author

I join Michael Connelly, Tess Gerritsen, Lawrence Block, Stephen Jay Schwartz and fourteen other author/screenwriter/producers in this new anthology.

Hollywood vs. the Author

It’s (almost) every author’s dream to sell their book or series to Hollywood. But most know very little about the actual process, despite the vague and slightly terrifying rumors—which authors tend to ignore as exaggerations, too completely absurd to be real.

Hah.

I’m psyched to announce that I have an essay in Hollywood vs. the Author, out today.

My friend Stephen Jay Schwartz, former Director of Development for Wolfgang Peterson, has assembled a great list of authors who have sold books to Hollywood, authors who have worked as screenwriters, showrunners, TV producers, and authors who have written movie tie-ins.

My own essay, A Woman Wouldn’t Do That, recounts some of the surreal experiences I had in development hell during my ten years as a working screenwriter—before I snapped and wrote my first novel. I compare the two jobs – screenwriting vs. writing books— and talk about how I came full circle, back to Hollywood, once I had written a successful novel series that was a natural for the fantastic new age of television we’re in. 

The Huntress Moon series

There’s a lot to learn here, from Michael Connelly’s harrowing experience with fine print (and how he triumphed over it, by betting on himself with Bosch), to Larry Block’s hilarious recount of the vagaries of casting, to Tess Gerritsen’s heartbreaking and timely reminder that a bad judge makes bad judgments—that we all have to live with.

Between us all, we cover the good, the bad, the horrific, and the flat-out unbelievable.

And the audiobook, out December 5, is really a treat - it's read by all of the authors, ourselves!

So if selling your book to Hollywood is your dream, you owe it to yourself to check out these valuable lessons before you sign on that dotted line.

Check it out here!

Stephen Jay Schwartz, editor, with essays by Lawrence Block, Michael Connelly, Gregg Hurwitz, Andrew Kaplan, Tess Gerritsen, Diana Gould, Lee Goldberg, James Brown, Alexandra Sokoloff, Ron Roberge, T. Jefferson Parker, Alan Jacobson, Max Allan Collins, Peter James, Naomi Hirahara, and Joshua Corin – plus an interview with Jonathan Kellerman.

-->

All five Huntress books on sale, $1.99 each

All five books in the series are currently ON SALE, $1.99 US - a perfect chance to catch up before Book 6, Shadow Moon, is out in January.

Shop for all five here

A haunted FBI agent is on the hunt for a female serial killer. This time, the predators lose. 

If you buy the Kindle versions, you can also add RC Bray’s fantastic, award-winning narration for just $3.99, a great Audible bargain.

 

          Special Agent Matthew Roarke and mass killer Cara Lindstrom return - in 

                                        Book 5 of the Huntress/FBI Thrillers.

                                       College rapists better watch their backs.

 

                    Book 5: in print, ebook and audio. Order here.

All five Huntress books on sale: $2.00

All five books of the Huntress/FBI Thrillers are on sale - $2.00 through February on Amazon US. 
This really is a series that needs to be read in order, so this is a fabulous way to get started.
Audiobook fans - you can add RC Bray's award-winning narration for 3.99 or under!

Shop for all five here

          Special Agent Matthew Roarke and mass killer Cara Lindstrom return - in 

                                        Book 5 of the Huntress/FBI Thrillers.

                                       College rapists better watch their backs.

 

                    Book 5: in print, ebook and audio. Buy here.

In the new book, Roarke and his FBI team are forced to confront the new political reality when they are pressured to investigate a series of mysterious threats vowing death to college rapists... while deep in the Arizona wilderness, mass killer Cara Lindstrom is fighting a life-and-death battle of her own.

For thousands of years, women have been prey.

No more.

Hunger Moon now available for review!

I'm very excited to announce that Hunger Moon is now available on Netgalley. Special Agent Matthew Roarke and mass killer Cara Lindstrom return - in Book 5 of the Huntress/FBI Thrillers. College rapists better watch their backs.


Blogger/Reviewers, please message me for the direct link or a pdf!  alex AT alexandrasokoloff DOT com

                    Out October 24, 2017 in print, ebook and audio. Pre-order here.

This really is a series that needs to be read in order, starting with the Thriller Award-nominated, Voice Arts Award-winning Huntress Moon,  so if you're a reviewer and need to catch up with the series, just message me or email alex@alexandrasokoloff.com and I'll get you whichever books you need in whatever format.

In the new book, Roarke and his FBI team are forced to confront the new political reality when they are pressured to investigate a series of mysterious threats vowing death to college rapists... while deep in the Arizona wilderness, mass killer Cara Lindstrom is fighting a life-and-death battle of her own.
 
You'll find out what's been happening with some of the other characters while Roarke was off in the desert in Bitter Moon. It's - complicated.



As always, you're in for a road trip: the book takes Roarke and Cara (not together!) to the canyons of Arizona; the wealthy coastal enclave of Santa Barbara; the gorgeous campus of my alma mater, UC Berkeley; the Santa Ynez wine country; and the surreal desert wasteland of the Salton Sea.




And speaking of surreal - there's the political... roller coaster. Imagine trying to write a realistic contemporary FBI series with all of the current madness going on. (Actually, imagine how hard it is to write ANYTHING with all of the current madness going on. My publishers had to ask me if they could move the book out a month because none of the authors who had deadlines before me had gotten their books in on time. Yeah. That bad.)

So no, I haven't backed off from writing about the unreality of it all, and I'm not sorry. I know that readers are already loving this book for telling it like it is. I'm also anticipating death threats. (Like that's anything worse that what's happening everywhere.) I will happily repost and distribute any trolling and disgruntled emails to all relevant media, so bring it on. :)

Best of all, no matter what Betsy DeVos is trying to do, or undo, some college rapists are going to learn that no matter what complicit judges or moronic Secretaries of Education say - they're not going to get away with it any more.


                                       ----------------- SPOILERS ---------------


Special Agent Matthew Roarke is back from his desert sojurn to head an FBI task force with one mission: to rid society of its worst predators.

But when the skeletal symbols of Santa Muerte, “Lady Death,” mysteriously appear at universities nationwide, threatening death to rapists, Roarke’s team is pressured to investigate. Then a frat boy goes missing in Santa Barbara, and Roarke knows a bloodbath is coming.

Meanwhile, avenging angel Cara Lindstrom is in hiding in the Arizona wilderness, still on her own ruthless quest - until an old enemy comes after both her and the FBI team, forcing her back into Roarke’s orbit. This time, the huntress has become the hunted . . .

Out October 24, 2017 in print, ebook and audio.

Pre-order

Goodreads 

All four books of the Huntress series on sale, $1.99!

The first four books of my Thriller Award-nominated Huntress Moon series are on sale for just $1.99 each on Amazon US in March! If you haven’t caught up with the series, here’s your chance to get a great deal.

      Special Agent Matthew Roarke thought he knew what evil was. He was wrong.

   
Huntress Moon         
Blood Moon
Cold Moon
Bitter Moon

All $1.99 each!

                                  Help me develop the Huntress Moon TV series!


My producers and I are looking for reader feedback on the books and characters. Sign up to be sent our questionnaire here. 

Everyone who returns a questionnaire will be entered in an exclusive drawing to win a Kindle Fire (or $100 Amazon gift certificate, your choice). Winner to be announced the first week in May.

You can also discuss these questions, see other people’s answers, and keep up with news about the books and show at the new Facebook page we're building.

https://www.facebook.com/The-Huntress-Moon-series-1605117836184885

“Like” the page to get an additional entry in the drawing!