Anastasia Gets Swatted by Lois Winston
Anastasia
Gets Swatted
When you live in New Jersey, you’re never at a
loss for plot ideas. We’re a tiny state, but we’re also the most densely
populated state in the nation, and many of our residents are up to no good. In A Stitch to Die For, the fifth book in
my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, I incorporated several recent
news stories into the plot. One of them is the rash of swatting incidents that
have taken place throughout the state over the past few months.
If you’re not familiar with swatting, it’s when
someone phones in an anonymous tip to the police that a hostage situation or
some other violent crime is in progress at a certain address. The caller
identifies himself as either someone hiding in the house or a concerned
neighbor who witnessed the break-in.
Swatting began with online gamers who would
swat other gamers who were beating them. Search “swatting” on Youtube and
you’ll find 34,000 videos. Often the victim of a swatting is online at the
time. When the SWAT team burst in with guns drawn, the incident is captured on
the victim’s computer camera.
Swatting soon spread to celebrity homes in
California. More recently, the perpetrators have targeted schools and the homes
of ordinary citizens. Here in New Jersey after a state assemblyman introduced
legislation to toughen penalties for swatting, he became the victim of a swatting.
Because the police have no way of knowing if
the calls they receive are hoaxes are real situations, they have to take each
call seriously. Not only is that a drain on municipality budgets, it’s
dangerous. It’s only a matter of time before someone is seriously injured or
even killed.
Unfortunately, most culprits are never caught
because they use computers to hack into phone lines. The police can’t trace the
calls. The perpetrator could be the teenager next door but just as easily be
someone hundreds or thousands of miles away. And it doesn’t take a computer
genius to learn how to do it. Directions are only a click away on the Internet.
As awful as these incidents are, I knew I just
had to have Anastasia and her family fall victim to a swatting.
A Stitch
to Die For
Ever since her husband died and left her in
debt equal to the gross national product of Uzbekistan, magazine crafts editor
and reluctant amateur sleuth Anastasia Pollack has stumbled across one dead
body after another—but always in work-related settings.
When a killer targets
the elderly nasty neighbor who lives across the street from her, murder strikes
too close to home.
Couple that with a series of unsettling events days before
Halloween, and Anastasia begins to wonder if someone is sending her a deadly
message.
A Stitch
to Die For is available in paperback and
as an ebook.
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Lois Winston's Bio:
USA Today bestselling and award-winning author Lois Winston writes mystery,
romance, romantic suspense, chick lit, women’s fiction, children’s chapter
books, and non-fiction under her own name and her Emma Carlyle pen name.
Kirkus Reviews dubbed her critically
acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, “North Jersey’s more mature
answer to Stephanie Plum.”
In addition, Lois is an award-winning craft and
needlework designer who often draws much
of her source material for both her characters and plots from her experiences
in the crafts industry.
Visit
Lois/Emma at www.loiswinston.com and Anastasia at the Killer Crafts &
Crafty Killers blog, www.anastasiapollack.blogspot.com.
Follow everyone on Tsu at www.tsu.co/loiswinston, on Pinterest at www.pinterest.com/anasleuth, and onTwitter @anasleuth.
( I absolutely love this great cover--and take my word for it, these books are terrific.
Comments
Marilyn, thanks for hosting Lois!
Marian Allen, Author Lady
Fantasies, mysteries, comedies, recipes
Marja McGraw
Patricia, I'm kind of shocked that so many people have said they've never heard of swatting. It's been all over the news here for months, but maybe if you don't live in a part of the country where it's happening, it's not deemed newsworthy.
Hope you like the new book.