Category Archives: Michael Houtchen

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The New Thriller From Michael Houtchen, The Phantom of the Circus, Available Today!

The Phantom of the Circus, the brand new thriller from Michael Houtchen, is available today in print and eBook formats! Thriller and Mystery readers alike will love this new addition to Michael’s franchise that includes Tybee Island H-Bomb and Death of Innocence.

Pick up a copy at any of the direct links below!

Print Edition Links

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

eBook Edition Links

Kindle

Nook

Kobo

Apple Books

Synopsis:

Death has a way of drawing people together, and it’s no exception for Betty Hall and her mother, Zoe Payne. With the death of Innocence ‒ Betty’s daughter and Zoe’s granddaughter ‒ the two were again united but for only a few short weeks.

One day, not long after Zoe returned to her home with a traveling circus in California, Betty received a call from the Santa Monica police saying her mother’s body had washed up under its famous pier. The following day, Betty, her dad FJ, and his friend Ray Harris boarded a plane bound for L.A. to retrieve the body and bring her mother home.

Lucia Torres’s grandmother was concerned about her granddaughter. Why? Lucia Torres was becoming a young woman.

Unfortunately, the human monsters that occasionally invaded her little Mexican town would also take note. Their hearts would be filled with lust, and make no mistake about it, the monsters would want to pluck the little budding flower.

Call it fate. Call it destiny. Soon Betty Hall and Lucia Torres’s lives would collide, all thanks to the Phantom of the Circus.

About the Author:

I’ve been lucky to be with Seventh Star Press (SSP) for five years. Stephen and Holly are beautiful people, as are all the members of the SSP family. My first novel in the SSP franchise, Tybee Island H-Bomb, won the 2020 Imadjinn Award for the best thriller. Since then, we’ve come out with a sequel, Death of Innocence. Holly is looking at a short story, a prequel to Tybee Island H-Bomb. I’m also about to finish another novel in the Tybee Island series. Hopefully, it will be in SSP’s hands in the next month or so.

My wife of thirty years next February, Stephanie, and I live in Owensboro, Kentucky. Owensboro is a small town on the Ohio River in the western part of the state. We have five kids and ten grandkids, with a new one on the way. I mustn’t forget Tony, our pound puppy. Okay, he weighs in at fifty pounds, so I wouldn’t necessarily call him a puppy. The point is, I don’t want to leave him out. The last time I did, he pouted for over a week. I started writing back in 2012, and I self-published several works.

SSP is thinking about re-publishing several. In addition, I have another completed manuscript in SSP’s hands. It’s about an assassin with Autism.

Cover Art, Cover Reveal, Michael Houtchen, Seventh StarShadow

Cover Reveal For The Phantom of the Circus, the New Thriller From Michael Houtchen!

Cover reveal today for The Phantom of the Circus, the new thriller from Michael Houtchen! The Phantom of the Circus will be available in print and ebook editions from Seventh StarShadow on June 22nd!

The cover for The Phantom of the Circus was designed by Olivia Pro Design. Holly Phillippe served as the editor for the novel.

Synopsis:

Death has a way of drawing people together, and it’s no exception for Betty Hall and her mother, Zoe Payne. With the death of Innocence ‒ Betty’s daughter and Zoe’s granddaughter ‒ the two were again united but for only a few short weeks.

One day, not long after Zoe returned to her home with a traveling circus in California, Betty received a call from the Santa Monica police saying her mother’s body had washed up under its famous pier. The following day, Betty, her dad FJ, and his friend Ray Harris boarded a plane bound for L.A. to retrieve the body and bring her mother home.

Lucia Torres’s grandmother was concerned about her granddaughter. Why? Lucia Torres was becoming a young woman.

Unfortunately, the human monsters that occasionally invaded her little Mexican town would also take note. Their hearts would be filled with lust, and make no mistake about it, the monsters would want to pluck the little budding flower.

Call it fate. Call it destiny. Soon Betty Hall and Lucia Torres’s lives would collide, all thanks to the Phantom of the Circus.

About the Author:

I’ve been lucky to be with Seventh Star Press (SSP) for five years. Stephen and Holly are beautiful people, as are all the members of the SSP family. My first novel in the SSP franchise, Tybee Island H-Bomb, won the 2020 Imadjinn Award for the best thriller. Since then, we’ve come out with a sequel, Death of Innocence. Holly is looking at a short story, a prequel to Tybee Island H-Bomb. I’m also about to finish another novel in the Tybee Island series. Hopefully, it will be in SSP’s hands in the next month or so.

My wife of thirty years next February, Stephanie, and I live in Owensboro, Kentucky. Owensboro is a small town on the Ohio River in the western part of the state. We have five kids and ten grandkids, with a new one on the way. I mustn’t forget Tony, our pound puppy. Okay, he weighs in at fifty pounds, so I wouldn’t necessarily call him a puppy. The point is, I don’t want to leave him out. The last time I did, he pouted for over a week. I started writing back in 2012, and I self-published several works.

SSP is thinking about re-publishing several. In addition, I have another completed manuscript in SSP’s hands. It’s about an assassin with Autism.

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Now Available! Death of Innocence, the New Thriller From Award-Winning Author Michael Houtchen!

Death of Innocence, the brand new thriller from award-winning author Michael Houtchen, is now available in print and eBook formats!

cover art design by Stephen Zimmer

Pick up a copy at the following direct eBook and print edition links!

eBook Links

Kindle

Nook

Kobo

Print Links

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Synopsis of Death of Innocence:

Raymond Harris has looked into the eyes of the dead before, but none ever touched him like the eyes of a sixteen-year-old girl found murdered in an abandoned house on the outskirts of Franklin, Kentucky.  Her death struck a nerve because Ray knew her.  Ray knew her likes and dislikes.  He knew everything about her because she was his Godchild.  She was the granddaughter of Ray’s best friend, and Ray knew her grandpa would seek revenge.  Finding her killer would become the driving force in Ray’s life.  The deceased was beautiful, kind, and caring.  Everyone loved her, and she didn’t desire to die.  Her name was Innocence.

About Michael Houtchen:

Kentucky has always been my home. I was born in Owensboro and raised in Daviess County. Life was simple back then. I grew up with outhouses, hand-pumps, and coal stoves. If you wanted hot water, you heated it on the stove. Both of my parents have passed on. I have a half-brother, Danny, but most of our younger lives he lived with his father, so we didn’t get to see each other often. Looking back, sadly, it was like being an only child. My closest friends were the cows, chickens, pigs, goats, sheep, turkeys, geese, ducks, and horses my dad kept on our small farm. I hope I didn’t leave anyone out. Farm animals can be so jealous. Our grocery store – mason jars of mom’s canned vegetables and the occasional trip into town to the IGA.


My dad was a woodsman. You could give him a shotgun, a box of shells and a book of matches, and he could disappear into the forest for weeks. I used to hunt with him, but I was never the woodsman. I can’t tell you how many deer, squirrels, rabbits, raccoons and ground hogs I’ve eaten.
My wife, Stephanie, and I have five kids (three boys and two girls) and eight grandchildren (five boys and three girls). All but one son live here in town. You should see Christmas day at our house.


I’ve had several jobs during my lifetime. When I was thirteen, I had a summer job. I was a soda-jerk at the Utica Junior High School playground. The school is now defunct. It is not my fault the school went defunct. As an adult, I started out as a janitor. Loved the work, but not the pay. Mapping came next. In other words, I was a draftsman who created maps from surveys. I did that for over twenty years. Mapping fulltime and going to Brescia College (It’s now a University) at night, I got a BS in Computer Science. Career change. I was a Computer Analyst for over twenty years. There came a day when I realized I was the dinosaur of Computer Science. Technology had passed me by. So, I up and retired. That was in 2014, and I haven’t missed working a day. Truth be known, I do miss the people I worked with. Notice, I’ve said nothing about writing. I could tell you a pretty good story, but putting it on paper was another thing. Stephanie, my wife, asked, “And why not?” I had no answer.


I should keep this short, so, I will tease you with two important events that happened in my life; two events that I haven’t already discussed. When we meet each other, don’t hesitate to ask me about them.
Monday, September 6, 1965, was a Labor Day, and I was out of school. On that day, I came in contact with a high voltage powerline. Seven thousand two hundred volts entered my hand and exited my head and my feet. That’s not a typo. It was seven thousand two hundred volts. I was given up for dead for three days. There is a “rest of the story” as Paul Harvey used to say. Ask me about it when we meet.


The second event: September 17, 2017, I was ordained a Permanent Deacon in the Catholic Church. It keeps me busy these days. If you’re not sure what a Permanent Deacon does, Goggle “Permanent Deacon of the Catholic Church.”


There you have it. My life story summed up in 1000 words or less. It sounds like a writing contest doesn’t it. There’s so much I left out. I could tell you about riding the rails, or the time I hung myself. But, those will have to wait until we meet.