CHALK VALLEY – Published Today

Drumroll please.  Let the fanfare begin.  And cue the doves.

Dear Friends – My debut thriller novel – CHALK VALLEY – was published today, exclusively on Amazon Kindle. I’m incredibly excited about this and hope you are as well.  I invite you to pick up a copy by following the link provided below and let me know what you think.

http://www.amazon.com/Chalk-Valley-ebook/dp/B008LDYW2K/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1342357818&sr=1-1&keywords=Chalk+Valley#_

Synopsis

In a remote mountain valley in British Columbia, a human monster preys on innocent lives.  After teenagers discover the body of a missing girl in Chalk Valley, searchers find the remains of two more victims secreted deep in the woods.  A serial killer is at work.

Chalk Valley police detective John McCarty is picked to lead a task force to find the murderer. But inexperience, politics and McCarty’s own inner demons quickly overwhelm him and the investigation falters.

Meanwhile, on a dark, lonely highway many miles from Chalk Valley, RCMP Sergeant Dave Kreaver comes across a van crashed at the side of the road. The driver is anxious to leave the scene. But Kreaver discovers an unconscious teenaged girl in the van. Kreaver feels in his gut that the driver could be the serial killer everyone’s looking for, but his inquiries are ignored. The task force is in well over its head, buried by thousands of leads and potential suspects. His supervisors tell him to back off and let the task force do its job.

Kreaver is in a deadly cat and mouse game with a murderous psychopath, a race against time with innocent victims in play. Operating alone and without official sanction, can he stop the Chalk Valley Killer before he claims more lives?

 Based on extensive research with world class authorities on the workings of modern serial murder investigation, CHALK VALLEY explores the challenges, the terror and the human crises that affects all those caught in the killer’s web  – the investigators, the victims and the families.

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Advance Reviews :

“CHALK VALLEY captures the essence of the ‘serial murder’ investigation through a combination of police techniques and behavioural sciences …  Johnstone did an excellent job in portraying this from both the killer’s and police point of view.” – Detective Staff Sergeant Richard Pellarin, OPP Behavioural Sciences Section

 “DL Johnstone is the new John Grisham! Chalk Valley is a well written, fast tempo thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat, balancing strong character development with the pace of the action.  It’s a page turner!  I truly enjoyed all the twists and turns. I’d highly recommend CHALK VALLEY to anyone who enjoy thrillers and action.” – Martin Cho

“The characters in CHALK VALLEY are strong, diverse and totally engaging! The killer’s evilness played out so well – from his outwardly charming self to his rages and sinister planning of his victim’s capture and torture, his behaviour spiralling out of control as the noose tightens!  The interplay between Kreaver and the troubled McCarty was really well developed and totally believable.  The forensic details were terrific and terrifying.”  – Donna Spafford

“Suspenseful. A photo gallery of vivid characters. A glib and manipulative psychopathic killer sets up the chase … Johnstone makes much of, and to good effect,  the closely-guarded territoriality of overlapping police jurisdictions and the necessity of obtaining legally-acquired evidence. Catching a cool and confident killer is not easy.” – Glenn Miller

“Good suspense, and great storytelling make for a page-turner. Johnstone creates the right ambience and he does an excellent job of pitting the two protagonists against each other… Excellent debut, recommended to crime fiction lovers.” –  JP Gagnon