by M.T. Bass
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GENRE: Mystery
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BLURB:
A Cyber Crime Thriller Series: Notorious serial killers digitally resurrected to live & hunt again in hacked replicants, pursued by detectives of the Artificial Crimes Unit.
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Excerpt:
The Darknet Chapter 18 – A Hillside Dump
The ride to the crime scene was deathly silent. Nothing personal. That was just Jake’s usual way, an angry meditation to prep for facing down the grim reaper’s handy work. I could have let the Crown Vic chauffeur us but driving gave me something to do. It was a short trip down the Shoreway towards Battery Park. We got off at West 49th Street, near the Parkview Nite Club, a blues club Jake used to haunt in his youth until it went too upscale for his taste. The collection of official vehicles with flashing lights on Herman Avenue made GPS unnecessary.
As usual, Jake jumped out and went right for the body before the engine was even off. I tracked down the patrol unit that was first on the scene to get briefed. The guys were responding to a call from Animal Control which got a call from an elderly dog walker who noticed a growing circle of buzzards overhead and called to get a presumed carcass removed from the neighborhood before it drew coyotes which surely, she feared, would have eventually turned their hunger towards her beloved Bichon. I spotted her easily, cradling her pet in her arms among the gaggle of gawkers pooling outside the crime scene tape. Even though patrol had taken her statement, I went to speak with her. I didn’t expect to get much more from her—and I didn’t—but sometimes it’s more about “customer relations” than police work, and witnesses feel slighted if they don’t get to speak with a detective. Something Jake had no patience for…
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From The Author:
The End of the World! (As We Know It)
It was kind of nice when I was writing the Murder by Munchausen Trilogy, because guys like Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk were making a whole lot of noise about the evils of Artificial Intelligence—and that kind of fit into my stories about robots being hacked and reprogrammed into hit men.
Hawking is a pretty darn smart guy. He wrote about the history of time, black holes and the grand design of the Universe. He said that “…artificial intelligence could one day spell the end of the human race.” That’s definitely something to think about. I was just planning on killing off a wayward husband and emulating a serial killer or two.
And Elon Musk is a smart guy, too. He’s in charge of Tesla electric cars and Space X—and he’s even launched a Tesla into outer space on his reusable rockets. And since 2017, he’s been working with a company called Neuralink which is trying to turn cloud-based AI into an extension of the human brain to enable mankind to seamlessly communicate with technology without the need for an actual, physical interface. Wew!
And Musk says, “With artificial intelligence, we are summoning the demon.”
And he’s a real billionaire! So, what do you think, should we believe him?
Okay, then we can sit back in front of our big screen smart TVs and wait for the day to come when Cyberdyne nukes us all with their Skynet Artificial Intelligence defense network. Though you have to wonder how truly “self-aware” that Artificial Intelligence really is…afterall who is going to reboot the system when it goes down or plug in all the “critically low powered” smart phones and iPads, if mankind is all toast?
In Munchausen, the evil isn’t really in the Artificial Intelligence. Oh sure, the cyber-punked androids are bad-ass when the time comes to snuff out a life or two. But the true evil is in the homo sapiens—right, “wise men,” indeed. How we flatter ourselves.
The robots themselves are as harmless as Alexa and Siri until someone comes along and says, “Hey, maybe you could do this one little thing for me…you know, kill a guy.”
Truth be told, when I look at Artificial Intelligence, it strikes me as being kind of dumb. How many times does AI have to show me yet another on-line advertisement for the product I bought last week? And if they’re so smart, why are they in “advertising” anyway?
And how about predictive texting?
You know how you’re not supposed to argue with stupid people, because they’ll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience? Yup, surely that frustration may well cause the end of the human race by us all hanging ourselves.
Maybe Steve and Elon see something I don’t, but in truth—at this point in time—Artificial Intelligence is like the margarine of brain power.
Just watch out for the guys behind it…
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
M.T. Bass is a scribbler of fiction who holds fast to the notion that while victors may get to write history, novelists get to write/right reality. He lives, writes, flies and makes music in Mudcat Falls, USA.
Born in Athens, Ohio, M.T. Bass grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. He graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University, majoring in English and Philosophy, then worked in the private sector (where they expect “results”) mainly in the Aerospace & Defense manufacturing market. During those years, Bass continued to write fiction. He is the author of eight novels: My Brother’s Keeper, Crossroads, In the Black, Somethin’ for Nothin’, Murder by Munchausen, The Darknet (Murder by Munchausen Mystery #2), The Invisible Mind (Murder by Munchausen Mystery #3) and Article 15. His writing spans various genres, including Mystery, Adventure, Romance, Black Comedy and TechnoThrillers. A Commercial Pilot and Certified Flight Instructor, airplanes and pilots are featured in many of his stories. Bass currently lives on the shores of Lake Erie near Lorain, Ohio.
M.T. Bass Author Links
Website: https://www.mtbass.net/
Blog: https://www.owl-works.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/owlworks/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Owlworks
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/author/mtbass
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5270962.M_T_Bass
M.T. Bass Website Links
Murder by Munchausen Trilogy Page: https://mtbassauthor.wordpress.com/murder-by-munchausen-trilogy/
Murder by Munchausen Page: https://mtbassauthor.wordpress.com/scribblings/murder-by-munchausen/
The Darknet Page: https://mtbassauthor.wordpress.com/scribblings/the-darknet-murder-by-munchausen-mysteries-2/
The Invisible Mind Page: https://mtbassauthor.wordpress.com/scribblings/the-invisible-mind-murder-by-munchausen-future-crime-mystery-3/
Murder by Munchausen Purchase Links
The book will be on sale for $0.99.
Amazon
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Munchausen-Trilogy-Future-Mystery-ebook/dp/B07QDGHYZ6
Amazon - Murder by Munchausen: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01NBTE2C5
Amazon - The Darknet: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1946266035
Amazon - The Invisible Mind: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DFF75L3
Apple Books
Apple Books – Murdery by Munchausen: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/murder-by-munchausen-future-crime-mysteries-book-1/id1265577038?mt=11
Apple Books – The Darknet: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/darknet-murder-by-munchausen-future-crime-mystery-book/id1308636037?mt=11
Apple Books – The Invisible Mind: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/invisible-mind-murder-by-munchausen-future-crime-mystery/id1347259796?mt=11
Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble – Murder by Munchausen: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/murder-by-munchausen-future-crime-mysteries-mt-bass/1126893450?ean=2940154482971
Barnes & Noble – The Darknet: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1127398596?ean=2940154614679
Barnes & Noble – The Invisible Mind: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-invisible-mind-mt-bass/1127943545
Kobo Books
Kobo Books – Murder by Muchausen: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/murder-by-munchausen-future-crime-mysteries-book-1-1
Kobo Books – The Darknet: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-darknet-murder-by-munchausen-future-crimes-mysteries-book-2
Kobo Books – The Invisible Mind: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-invisible-mind-murder-by-munchausen-future-crime-mysteries-book-3
Smashwords
Smashwords – Murder by Munchausen: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/739086
Smashwords – The Darknet: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/757708
Smashwords – https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/789818
Audio Books – Murder by Munchausen
Listen to Sample: https://soundcloud.com/user-228147948/murder-by-munchausen-by-mt-bass-audiobook-sample
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Munchausen-Future-Crime-Mysteries/dp/B07VYVVCVX
Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/audiobook/murder-by-munchausen-sci-fi-police-procedural-techno/id1470234503
Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/Murder-by-Munchausen-Audiobook/B07VXS568M
Audiobooks.com: https://www.audiobooks.com/audiobook/murder-by-munchausen-a-sci-fi-police-procedural-techno-thriller/387085
Barnes & Noble: https://www.nookaudiobooks.com/audiobook/1003799/murder-by-munchausen
Chirp Audiobooks: https://www.chirpbooks.com/audiobooks/410042
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/audiobooks/details/M_T_Bass_Murder_by_Munchausen?id=AQAAAEAs9li2ZM
Kobo Books: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/audiobook/murder-by-munchausen
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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE:
M.T. Bass will be awarding a $50 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Sounds like a very exciting read. An attention getting blurb.
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteI liked the excerpt.
ReplyDeleteDo you have any ideas for a follow up book?
ReplyDeleteHi --
ReplyDeleteThanks for the invite to add a guest post for my blog tour.
The Murder by Munchausen Trilogy is available on Kindle Unlimited.
Take Care
~Mudcat
Hi Bernie --
ReplyDeleteI'm about 10% into the fourth Munchausen book called, Motherless Children.
It should be out early next year.
Thanks.
~Mudcat
Do you ever suffer from writer’s block and, if so, how do you overcome it?
ReplyDeleteGreat guest post
ReplyDeleteGreat post, I enjoyed reading it. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteWhat was your inspiration for the book?
ReplyDeleteInteresting author guest post today.
ReplyDeleteHi Peggy --
ReplyDeleteIt's not so much writers "block" as hitting the pause button to figure out what the characters are going to do next. I don't outline my stories, so I have to think it out as I go.
Thanks.
~Mudcat
Hi Denise --
ReplyDeleteMaybe four or five years ago, I was reading zombie stories in all of my writers groups. I guess it was all based on The Living Dead. That made me stop to think about who or what the next bad guys were going to be in fiction. I pondered on it a while, then I had the first scene of Murder by Munchausen come to me. While the robots are the evil doers, the real bad guys are the humans behind it.
Thanks.
~Mudcat
I love this post. The book sounds awesome.
ReplyDelete