Murder by Munchausen Trilogy
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 One:
Murder by Munchausen Chapter 1 – The Warehouse
This particular Android Subject apparently went off the rails and killed a luckless pedestrian on his way to a bodega for some iced tea or bottled water to quench his thirst. A one-in-a-million occurrence, but every so often it still happens. Anyone who believes technology is infallible is a fool. The incident didn’t appear all that nefarious when first reported, but shortly thereafter the Atlas data stream went dark and patrol called our unit in. It quickly became obvious we were dealing with a malware hit, not a malfunction. The luckless pedestrian was actually not so luckless, being on what appeared to be the winning side of a particularly nasty termination suit with his ex, who we suspected had outsourced the final settlement to extra-judicial parties.
It might not make sense, but the beloved Media tags it “Murder by Munchausen.” For a price, there are hackers out there who will reprogram a synthoid to do your dirty work. The bad news: no fingerprints or DNA left at the crime scene. The good news—at least for us—is that they’re like missiles: once they hit their target, they’re usually as harmless as empty brass. The trick is to get them before they melt down their core OS data, so you can get the unit into forensics for analysis and, hopefully, an arrest.
EC’s scanner returned a hard ping. His quick double blink put his cross-hairs up on my lens and I followed his eye line to the northwest corner of the building…
Please start off by telling us a little about yourself.
Hi. I’m Mudcat and I am a recovering English Major. Went to school at Ohio Wesleyan University and studied under Robert Flanagan He did a pretty good job with his novel, Maggot (250,000 sold), so I guess he “retired” to academia and tried to teach some of us how to write fiction and verse. I did okay and got a couple of awards and have been scribbling ever since.
Is Murder by Munchausen a single title, or part of a series?
This trilogy is a compilation of the first set of episodes in this on-going series. They follow the Artificial Crimes Unit, which tracks down errant robots who’ve committed murder and the hit men cyberpunks who reprogram them into killing machines—literally. These books go after The Baron, who is digitally recreating serial killers. I’ve started in on #4, called Motherless Children, and I’ve got about 25% of the first draft done.
What were your inspirations for the story?
I was at the edge with zombie murders stories and was trying to figure out what the next round of evil doers would be. Suddenly, I had the very first scene of two cops hunting down an android subject (An-Sub) in an old warehouse. It helped that smart guys like Elon Musk (“With artificial intelligence, we are summoning the demon”) and Stephen Hawking (“…artificial intelligence could one day spell the end of the human race”) were raising red flags about the dangers of AI. Who could argue with those guys?
Please share your setting for Murder by Munchausen. Have you ever lived or visited there? If so, what did you like most?
Conveniently, it is set in Cleveland, Ohio, just down the road from where I live. So, I’m pretty familiar with the place. But I still need to do research. And that helps me find out more stuff about the area I never knew before. I like living on the “North Coast” of America.
When did the writing bug first bite?
High school. But really I was trying to get laid.
Who are your favorite authors, book/series?
Top Five: 1. Joseph Heller; 2. Kurt Vonnegut; 3. Mark Twain; 4. Thomas Berger; 5. Harper Lee
If you could have an author roundtable discussion with any authors, who would you invite?
I’d collect Joseph Heller, Kurt Vonnegut, Mark Twain, Caihm McDonnell, Christopher Moore, Carl Hiaasen and Jay Spencer Green, then let them just crack me up. They write such great stuff.
Do you have any hobbies or special things you like to do in your spare time?
I’m a Commercial Pilot and Certified Flight Instructor. I also like to write, perform, and record my music. I play guitar, keyboards and sing.
What is the one thing that you would tell an inspiring writer to do?
“Persistance to the point of stupidity—but never beyond.” Really, just don’t ever give up.
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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
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.
Awesome interview! It’s always great to discover a new author and/or book.
Great interview, thanks for sharing!
Love the covers of all three books.
I appreciate getting to read about your book. With sisters and daughters who love to read, this helps so thank you.
I liked the excerpt.
Hi Harlie —
Thanks for featuring me on your blog and for the great interview questions.
Mudcat
Thanks for hosting!