No Pistol Tastes the Same by Jacob Paul Patchen [Excerpt]

JP’s pistol tastes like bourbon.

Welcome to the May 30th stop on the blog tour for No Pistol Tastes the Same by Jacob Paul Patchen with Goddess Fish Promotions. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for spotlights, reviews, and a giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.

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About the Book

No Pistol Tastes the Same
by Jacob Paul Patchen

Published 22 April 2022

Genre: Military Suspense
Page Count: 255
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!

JP’s pistol tastes like bourbon.

Sergeant JP Grimm didn’t pull the trigger. Now his Marine brothers are dead. All victims of a child in a suicide vest…a child that resembled Sgt. Grimm’s very own. But how are you supposed to take a child’s life? How can you kill someone that looks just like your own son?

Those same hazel eyes he saw in his scope continue to haunt him long after he left the desert death lands as he tries to reconnect with his son, Adin. JP battles another war at home against PTSD and the worthless, dejected thoughts that he is the reason his friends are dead. His wife, Lisa, struggles to let her stubborn husband work it out on his own terms. She does all she can to give him space, support, and strength—but her love can only go so far.

As the world shows signs of impending doom from a weakening magnetic field and flaring sun, JP, too, shows signs of his own impending doom. After pushing everyone away, JP must face his nightmares to restore his relationship with his son, save his marriage, and save himself before the modern world burns out in a fiery, electromagnetic disaster.

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Excerpt

But now, another sleepless night later, lying awake during the moans, screams, and jerks of her damp husband, she wondered why the father of her child has been avoiding their son. Keeping them both far from peaceful dreams, she was finally ready to ask him what made him sweat and shake at night.

He stood at the window with a flashlight in his hand scanning the night with slow strokes.

“Babe, what are you looking at?” She came in from the bathroom and set her phone on the nightstand.

“Huh? Oh…uh, nothing, I guess. Just looking.”

“I guess you really missed this place, that view, huh?” She folded back the sheets.

“Uh, yeah. Yeah, ya know…it looks a little different than it did in my thoughts and dreams. Looks a little edgier. Darker. Maybe? I don’t know.”

He clicked off the flashlight, letting the curtain swing back into place, and turned to watch her slide out of his blue, flannel shirt. She let it drop to the floor where she flung it to the corner with her toes.

He watched her elegant form melt into the sheets of their pine-wood bed in the glow of the nightstand lamp. How could a guy like me land a goddess like this? he thought, as she opened the sheets for him to join her.

“I love you, so much,” he whispered, climbing in and kissing her forehead.

She gleamed in heavy thought, knowing the measure of that love, but now wondering where that same magnitude had gone for his son.

“I love you,” she whispered back, rubbing his muscular chest and gazing into the far corner of their rustic cabin home, gifted to them when they wed by his grandparents.

It was a quiet little home on the back five acres of his grandfather’s farm, where the woods and pines met the golden fields. How surprised they were when his grandparents had revealed that the cabin and the land were theirs—as long as they helped with the farm. “Because good land needs good roots,” his grandfather had answered when JP questioned why they had given them such a big gift.

Good roots, she thought. To reap what you sow. She chewed at the inside of her lip, not noticing the length between her last words and the next. “And Adin loves you too.” She looked up from his shoulder to study his face. The sadness and pain surprised her. Where she thought she’d see joy, she found shame. Struck cold by his storming eyes, she propped herself up on the pillow, while he took the space as a chance to turn away toward the window.

“JP…” Her fingertips grazed his shoulder. “I know that I’ll never be able to understand what you went through, but I’m here when you need me. Please know that.” She left a long kiss on the arch of his shoulder and felt his deep, shaking breath. “I can tell something’s bothering you, and if you don’t want to talk about it, I understand. But I just want to help where I can. I just want to be here for you. Okay?” She pressed up against him. His skin was cold and sticky. She tried to wrap him in her warmth.

About the Author

Jacob Paul Patchen is an award-winning author and poet of inciting fiction and provocative poetry.

Jacob earns his inspiration through experience and believes every book has a purpose. He writes powerful, emotional, and thrilling stories about mental health, war, social stigmas, and other taboo subjects in order to bring awareness, change, and hope to those who need it.

Raised in Southeast Ohio, he’s a sucker for fast workouts, long laughter, and power naps. Snacks are his love language, and he thinks he’s a Pisces. Check him out and join his newsletter at Jacobpaulpatchen.com.

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Giveaway Alert!

Jacob Paul Patchen will be awarding a free signed copy of NO PISTOL TASTES THE SAME to a randomly drawn winner (Print US only/international winners will receive a digital copy of the book) via rafflecopter during the tour.

Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.