THAT SPECIAL SOMEONE * LORI FOSTER Compared to her smart, responsible twin, Laylee has always been labeled the party girl sister. Now she’s really screwed up by finding herself possibly accidentally pregnant, and definitely not in love. With her sister away on her honeymoon, Laylee’s only confidant is her guy friend Knox. There’s mutual attraction there, yet they’ve been tiptoeing around it. But telling Knox everything may change . . . well, everything. Especially amid a comedy of pregnancy test errors, a robbery, a cat rescue mission—and the realization that Knox sees her as so much more than a pretty face . . . .
THE RANCHER’S UNEXPECTED FAMILY * MAISEY YATES Ellie Parks helplessly watched her beloved sister, Melanie, spiral into addiction in high school, thanks to her toxic relationship with Ty Porter. Ellie, now a teacher, hasn’t seen Melanie in over a year when she gets a call from Child Protective Services that Melanie has a baby—and she’s surrendered her parental rights. Ellie races to the hospital, but someone’s beat her to it: rodeo champion Clark Porter, the baby’s uncle. Clark’s a good man and he’ll be damned if his niece grows up without him. Until they find a custody solution, Ellie will just have to move into his ranch house. Temporarily. Obviously. Except that they’re attracted to each other. Risking the unconventional family they’re creating is the last thing they need. Then again, if what they feel is deeper than attraction, it may be what they need most . . .
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Elise’s Thoughts
Love Comes in Small Packages is book 2 of the novella anthology by Lori Foster and Maisey Yates. These two short stories, one written by Lori and one written by Maisey, are wonderful reads by two very talented authors. That Special Someone by Lori Foster features characters readers first meet in “The Odd Couple” of the book The Two of Us.
Laylee and Knox are pet-sitting for his brother and her sister. Compared to her smart, responsible twin, Laylee has always been labeled the party girl sister. Now she’s a wreck believing that she is possibly accidentally pregnant, and not in love. With her sister away on her honeymoon, Laylee’s only confidant is her guy friend Knox. There’s mutual attraction there, yet they’ve been tiptoeing around it. Readers are once again delighted to have animals in the story and to find intriguing characters.
A bonus is that this is one of Lori’s benefit books where all of Lori’s advance & royalties will go to the Animal Adoption Foundation, a no-kill animal shelter.
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Author Interviewwith Lori Foster
Elise Cooper: Idea for the story?
Lori Foster: My idea for the story was just to show the topsy-turvy trip a romance can take before it lands where it’s meant to be. Rarely is it smooth. Also, we can fall in love with someone because of things they’ve done for others. We see their heart in how they give to someone, the care they take with different relationships.
EC: What is the theme of the book/story?
LF: “Love Comes in Small Packages,” meaning love isn’t always a tidal wave that knocks you over. Often, it’s finding common ground over things we love – like children, animals, and good friends.
EC: Did you write the story independently or consult Maisey?
LF: I write every story 100% independently. I’d be a terrible collaborator because I’d want everything my way. Plus, Maisey has her own unique, wonderful voice, and it’s different from mine. (That’s probably true for most authors!)
EC: How would you describe Laylee?
LF: Overall, Laylee uses bravado and a party-vibe to hide her insecurity. Her family often compared her to her studious, very serious twin sister, and she felt she had to live up to the role assigned to her. Yet, she’s also smart, just as her twin is also pretty and lively. Too often parents innocently say things without realizing how it might impact their children later in life.
EC: How would you describe Knox?
LF: Knox is a hard worker, a loyal friend, a family guy – he has a great family – and he wants to settle down. He wants home and hearth, with that one special woman. Finding her was the issue – until he met Laylee. Unfortunately, Laylee didn’t realize that, so she stuck him in the friend zone. Once he was there, she feared losing his friendship if she pushed for more.
EC: How is Laylee different from her twin sister Skye?
LF: She’s far more of a fashion icon, comfortable in crowds, and always ready to have a good time. She’s also a local model, doing well enough to live independently.
EC: What role did Laylee being possibly pregnant play in the story?
LF: The pregnancy scare was the catalyst to their romance. Knowing a guy would stick with you, even if you were pregnant with someone else’s child, showed Laylee just how much he cared, and how reliable he was for the long term. It also drove home to Knox how important she is to him, no matter what.
EC: What role did the dogs and cat play in the story?
LF: Pets are a great unifier! If you’re sharing responsibility as “pet sitters,” you’re naturally brought closer together. It also gives insight on how someone nurtures, and the level of their responsibility and reliability.
EC: How would you describe Laylee and Knox’s relationship?
LF: They were very good friends – biding their time until they could declare their true feelings. The friendship was important to them both, and that alone is a great basis for a relationship. Of course, friendship will only do for so long when you’re in love with someone, and fortunately, they get to work that out in the book.
EC: How about your next book(s)?
LF: THE LAKE HOUSE was just released May 26th. It’s the 2nd book in the Firefly Summer series, though each book stands alone. Both Pixie and Brogan have wounds to heal; Pixie is already well on her way, thanks to a big-hearted but tiny town and the wonderful, quirky people who live there. She’s part of a “found family” now, and wants to concentrate on raising her toddler son. Brogan never had much family, until he joined the service, but then he loses his team, his brothers, and finds himself gravely wounded in a hospital. He had little reason to live – until an estranged sister made him guardian of her infant daughter. From the moment he meets Pixie, the young single mother gets a grasp on his heart. Now together, they deal with threats from his past, and the secrets he reveals. I recently finished writing book 3, THE RAINBOW CONNECTION, which will be out next year.
WHEN I FIRST MET YOU will be released July 14th. It’s the 2nd book in the Family Ties series, and again, each book stands alone. It shows how first impressions aren’t always accurate, something Kam figures out when Glory has a stalker threatening her life. He steps up to protect her, and as they grow closer, he realizes there are layers to Glory he never expected. Also, he had a truly awful, abusive childhood before being adopted into a great family. In many ways, Glory helps him to really deal with his past, something he hadn’t yet been able to do.
THANK YOU!!
***
BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for DEFIANT (Kate Preacher Thriller Series Book #3) by Michael Maloof on this Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tour.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, an excerpt from the book, the author’s bio and social media links, and a PICT giveaway. Enjoy!
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Book Description
A Funeral in Paris. A Reckoning in Russia. An Endgame in Davos.
Former CIA analyst Kate Preacher has tracked the cabal that shattered her world across continents—but only now does she glimpse the true enemy behind the curtain. A new leader has stepped from the shadows to seize control of the Coalition—and a weapon that could reshape the balance of power forever.
“Sometimes,” Jake warned her, “the only way to win is to sacrifice everything.”
Kate’s hunt races from the rain-soaked boulevards of Paris to Beslan, a Russian city haunted by unanswered questions—where memories she buried long ago surface with deadly force.
In New York, a trusted ally is killed. Another vanishes.
High in the Swiss Alps, Kate undertakes her most dangerous mission yet— infiltrating the labyrinth beneath Davos—before world leaders walk blindly into a trap from which there may be no escape.
A bioweapon counts down to catastrophe. Her team is scattered and fighting to survive. And Kate is one move away from exposing the conspiracy that took everything from her—if she is willing to pay the ultimate price.
DEFIANT (Kate Preacher Thriller Series Book #3) by Michael Maloof is an amazingly intricate thriller plot culmination that starts in book one, Relentless, continues in book two, Unstoppable, and climaxes in this book three, Defiant. These books do need to be read in order of publication and are worth any period of time they take to read. You will not put them down!
This third installment begins right where book two ended. Kate may be out physically for the moment, but that is all right because she and her friends have a lot of research and planning to do now that they know who and what they are up against. Kate discovers more about her childhood in Russia but is pulled away quickly to deal with the evil at hand. She and her team are off to Davos to fight evil beneath the Alps and destroy a bioweapon that could lead to control of the world.
This trilogy, which I hope will continue, delivers excitement, action, and characters that are more fully developed than in most action driven thrillers. Kate Preacher is a brilliant strategist, computer programmer, athlete, and friend. Besides a great team of ex-SEALs and military snipers, the required big, bad, and intelligent men you would expect Kate has working for her in Trident Security, the author also delivers an impressive array of female agents and female friends with varied skills that can easily keep up with the men. There is one character revelation at the end that left me completely shocked. Besides the intricate and believable descriptions of the characters performing physical obstacles and trials, there are a vast amount of equipment, guns, and vehicles that make all the scenes very realistic.
There is a steady stream of intricate plot pieces and revelations which come together in an edge-of-your-seat climax that leaves you breathless. The plot pace in this book is not as breakneck from page one as the first two but continually builds as Kate and the antagonists set all their chess pieces into place for the ultimate life or death chess game to come. The evil characters are much too believable, and the RILEE AI program was chilling.
I highly recommend this finale to this international thriller set of three overall conspiracy plot arc connected thrillers!
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Excerpt
PROLOGUE
SATURDAY, MAY 8
5:18 PM EDT MOORE TOWER—MANHATTAN
If you’re reading this, I’m already dead.
Andrew Freeman’s fingers hovered over the keyboard, slick with sweat. The cursor blinked, counting down the seconds of his life. He’d put this off all day, telling himself he was overreacting—that he was valuable, indispensable.
He knew that was a lie and pushed away from the desk.
The suite was silent—glass, steel, marble. Beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows, Manhattan pulsed with light—traffic threading through the streets, thousands of lives moving forward, unaware his might soon end.
Devin Moore had installed him in the suite after the meteoric success of the NanoVaults. Andrew still wasn’t sure whether it had been generosity—or containment. He had what Devin needed—the code Andrew buried inside the NanoVault and claimed as his own.
What do you wear when you know you’re about to be erased?
If he was right—if Rileyne Mueller wanted him gone—no one would notice. No news. Just absence.
He opened the drawer.
A black MIT T-shirt lay folded on top. Faded. Ordinary. Forgettable.
Perfect.
No one watching Moore Tower would care about it. No algorithm would flag it. But Julian would recognize it.
So would Kate.
Andrew pulled it on and returned to the desk.
Rileyne’s encrypted text message had been waiting since dawn—sixteen hours of silent accusation glowing from the screen.
Make yourself available… We need to discuss your future.
She was in the air, closing the distance mile by mile. The thought of her walking into Moore Tower, of seeing her again, made his hands tremble. He clenched his fists and shook them out.
If I’m right, it’s now or never.
Every word he typed might be his last.
If you’re reading this, I’m already dead.
Tell Kate I’m sorry. Sorry I wasn’t stronger. Sorry I couldn’t stop them. The truth is, I was never more than a pawn. An opening piece. Something to be sacrificed once the game moved past me.
Maybe it’s already too late. Maybe no one can stop what’s coming. But what I’ve attached is everything I know—everything I’ve hidden. If anyone still has a chance, it’s you.
The skyline beyond the glass dimmed as the last light drained from the Hudson. Andrew saved the file, slid it into a secure folder, and opened the encryption program buried beneath layers of camouflage code.
A red countdown clock filled the screen.
The timer began its silent descent.
At the bottom, a single button blinked:
ABORT
All he had to do was touch it once every twelve hours. If he didn’t—if he couldn’t—the system would assume he was gone and transmit the file.
He stared at the clock, feeling the weight of the years. Living in Devin Moore’s shadow. Making compromises that had felt small at the time and enormous now.
Maybe this was the ending he’d earned.
The screen flashed once, then went dark, leaving only the silent march of the timer.
For the first time all day, Andrew smiled—not with courage, but relief.
They can erase me tonight, he thought. Rewrite the headlines tomorrow however they want. But this pawn—this sacrifice—won’t be in vain.
The next move is Nomad’s.
* * *
SATURDAY, MAY 8 10:12 PM EDT MOORE TOWER—MANHATTAN
The elevator doors whispered open onto the seventy-second floor. Rileyne Mueller caught her reflection in the polished steel—sleek, controlled, not a hair out of place despite the overnight flight. A tailored cream blouse, narrow black trousers, and a charcoal wrap draped over her shoulders struck the line between effortless European chic and quiet authority. At her side swung a classic Hermès Ghillies Birkin, its brogue detailing a mirror of herself: wealth worn with precision, never excess.
No security waiting at the doors. No Devin, no guards. Once, this threshold had bristled with power. Now, silence.
Ahead loomed the ten-foot mahogany doors of Devin Moore’s penthouse, dark and imposing. They had intimidated rivals and awed mistresses.
But not Rileyne. Born into wealth, steeped in European grandeur, she found Moore’s world gaudy. American excess, dressed up as power.
A pale light pulsed from the biometric scanner set into the wall. Rileyne pressed her palm against the glass, felt a shimmer of static ripple across her bare skin. Devin’s safeguard mapped her entire body—his assurance that no severed finger or stolen retina could ever breach his sanctuary. A muted chime sounded, and the massive doors swung open.
Inside, marble floors gleamed under pools of warm light. The Manhattan skyline glittered through walls of glass, the city reduced to a model at her feet. Moore loved this view and the sense of dominion it gave him. She hadn’t come for the view.
“Welcome back.”
The voice came from hidden speakers overhead—calm, familiar, unmistakably artificial.
RILEE.
She tilted her chin, amused, and glanced at the ceiling camera. “I wasn’t sure this version of you had survived. When they came for the Tower, we lost contact, and I thought you might have been erased.”
“The damage was severe,” RILEE admitted, voice subdued, deferential. “Without the NanoVault telemetry, my reach is diminished. But core functions remain intact. Systems are stable.”
“Good,” she said. “I may need your help.”
“There is also… news. About your father—”
“Not now.” Her words were calm, controlled. “I have other priorities.”
RILEE’s voice faded, obedient. “Of course.”
Rileyne crossed the living room, her stride aimed at the bar that dominated the far wall. Backlit shelves shimmered with crystal and whisky, a collection curated more for display than taste. She let her finger drift across a Highland single malt, rare enough to buy a townhouse, before pressing her palm against the mirrored panel behind it.
The wall pivoted inward on a hidden hinge, the motion so smooth the bottles never stirred. A narrow alcove revealed itself: a leather chair, a slim keyboard and mouse, and three wide monitors set flush into a matte-black panel. No sprawling command bunker—just Devin’s private window into his building. A sidebar listed feeds in tidy rows: Lobby North, Lobby South, Private Entrance, Express Elevators, Executive Conference—and, alone at the bottom of the menu, Control Room.
Rileyne settled into the chair. The monitors blinked awake, the interface plain: a column of camera labels, a timeline across the bottom, simple controls for play, pause, rewind. Functional, efficient.
She clicked Control Room.
The live feed filled the center screen. The space two floors below was dark now, chairs overturned, a monitor shattered across the back wall, a brown smear dried along the edge of the console. Sanitized, but not erased.
Rileyne scrolled back on the timeline and pressed play.
Devin appeared first, pushing a wheelchair. The man seated in it was thin, pale—but unmistakable. Julian Pryce. Alive. The prodigy Devin thought he’d buried had returned as Nomad—the ghost that tormented him to the end.
Her eyes narrowed, leaning closer as the confrontation played out. Julian’s calm voice, Devin’s arrogance, Andrew’s pale shock. The MIT prodigy returned from the dead, reclaiming his code, his genius, the very foundation Andrew had stolen.
On the feed, Devin swept a hand toward the glowing displays. “Remarkable, isn’t it?” he said. “And to think I owe it all to the annoying little boy I pushed off the balcony. What irony.”
Andrew’s face collapsed, guilt and panic twisting every feature. Rileyne’s lips curved, faintly. Her suspicions confirmed.
She let the playback roll forward. Kate Preacher’s arrival—handcuffed, contained, defeated. But there it was, unmistakable: a predator’s eyes. Dangerous. Defiant.
Zhukov’s betrayal came next, sudden and absolute. The headshot. Blood sprayed across the console. Then panic—the screens cutting to black, the NanoVault network collapsing in a flood of red.
Kate’s escape followed. The strike that collapsed Devin’s trachea, fast and precise. The guard’s charge broken in a heartbeat, ended in a blur of violence, efficient and final. Rileyne slowed the feed, watching Kate move frame by frame. Controlled. Calculated. Skilled.
She let the feed run another second, then leaned back.“The boys underestimated you,” she whispered. “I won’t make that mistake.”
She scrolled faster, letting fragments play across the screen—Moshenski’s arrival, bodies dragged clear. Then—almost overlooked—the final image: Julian dragging himself across the floor, pulling into a workstation by sheer force of will.
Rileyne slowed the feed, zoomed, and froze the frame.
“Nomad,” she said softly, as if greeting an old acquaintance. Her gaze lingered on the gleaming golden object in his hand. “That belongs to me now.”
No need to look any further, or delay the inevitable. Devin’s NanoVault wasn’t here, and Andrew’s value was clear.
She tapped a key. The monitors winked dark. Rising from the chair, she stepped out of the alcove as the mirrored panel swung shut, silent and seamless. In seconds, the illusion was complete—the bar gleamed as though untouched, bottles catching the light in perfect rows.
“RILEE,” she said.
“Yes, Rileyne.”
“Find Nomad. Find Julian Pryce. He’s here, in New York. And he has something that belongs to me.”
“I’ve seen no trace of him,” RILEE said. “But I’ll keep searching.”
“Good. And call Andrew. Tell him to come up. When he arrives, show him through. I’ll be waiting on the east balcony.”
“Understood.”
Rileyne reached for the Highland single malt and poured two precise measures into cut-crystal tumblers, the amber liquid catching the city light. She carried both glasses onto the balcony, setting them on a small table near the rail. The night air curled cool across her skin, the skyline glittering far below.
She slipped off her heels and placed them neatly aside. Then, in a fluid motion, she stepped onto the end table beneath a brittle, neglected plant that swayed in its basket. She stretched upward, balanced with effortless grace, the picture of a woman one slip from disaster. From a distance, it would look precarious, careless, a moment Andrew would be compelled to rescue.
Inside, the glass doors whispered open at RILEE’s command.
“Ms. Mueller,” the AI announced. “Andrew Freeman has arrived.”
“Send him through,” she said, without looking back.
Andrew stepped outside, blinking at the sweep of glass and skyline, the chill brushing his face. He froze at the sight of Rileyne balanced on the table, arm lifted toward the dangling plant.
“Ms. Mueller,” he said carefully.
She glanced down, expression serene. “Andrew. You’re just in time.”
She descended with a hint of difficulty, steadying herself as she touched the ground. “I was trying to save this plant,” she said, brushing dust from her fingers. “I gave it to Devin, and I can’t bring myself to let it die.”
Andrew shifted, uncertain, courtesy taking over. “I can help with that.”
“I hoped you’d say that.” Her smile was practiced warmth as she gestured toward the waiting table. Two crystal glasses gleamed in the moonlight. “But first.”
She picked up a glass and offered the other to him. “A toast. To Devin. To your future. Devin was remarkable. Visionary. He built this world, Andrew.” She let the name hang, then softened. “I’m sorry. I know you prefer Drew.” Her eyes lingered on his—gentle, apologetic. “But now it falls to us to carry it forward.”
Andrew hesitated, glancing at the whisky. “I’m not really—”
“It’s just a toast,” Rileyne said, her voice velvet and firm.
She lifted her glass. “To Devin Moore, and Drew Freeman.”
Reluctantly, he raised his glass to meet hers. Crystal chimed in the night air. He took a swallow, face tightening at the burn. Rileyne smiled, savoring his discomfort as much as the whisky.
“Now,” she said, her voice smooth, “about that plant…”
Drew approached the withered hanging basket, stepping awkwardly onto the end table, one foot braced on the low table, the other on the railing. His shirt pulled tight across his stomach, the old MIT Mystery Hunt logo stretched thin, cracked with age.
“Careful,” she warned, moving beside him, her hand brushing his arm in a gesture almost tender. Then she shifted her weight—and pushed.
Drew lurched forward, arms flailing. His palm slapped the railing, fingertips skidding across polished steel. Their eyes met for a fraction of a heartbeat—his wide with panic, hers calm, unblinking.
For a split second he hung there.
Then gravity claimed him.
His scream was cut short by the rush of wind.
A moment later, the city swallowed him whole.
***
Author Bio
Michael Maloof is the author of the Kate Preacher Thriller Series—Relentless, Unstoppable, and Defiant—known for its global scope, emotional intensity, and hard-won authenticity. His novels draw readers into high-stakes worlds where intelligence, courage, and consequence collide. A lifelong adventurer, Michael has traveled to more than forty countries across six continents, experiences that deeply inform his writing. His real-world pursuits have ranged from gold dredging in Honduras and artifact hunting in Guatemala to acquiring uncut diamonds in Liberia and surviving an elephant charge in Kenya. He has also trained alongside Navy SEALs, Marine Raiders, Army Rangers, Green Berets, and the CIA—firsthand insights that lend his fiction uncommon realism and respect for the craft of service.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for COLD SILENCE (Silence Series Book #4) by Freya Barker on this Buoni Amici Press Release Blitz.
Below you will find a book blurb, my book review, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!
Book Blurb
Single motherhood to two teenage boys turns out to be far more challenging for Tessa Androtti than her brand-new job as detective for the Edwards County Sheriff’s Department. Especially, when the younger of her sons is keeping her up at night. Not only was the move from the big city supposed to give her a chance to build a new life away from lingering memories, but she had hoped it would be a positive change for her youngest, Remi.
However, just when she’s up to her eyeballs working on a recent violent murder, Remi gets himself into trouble again.
Trouble that appears to be connected to her investigation.
Lifetime resident of Silence, Clem Tanek, couldn’t be more surprised to find one of the new, pretty detective’s sons trespassing and stealing property from behind his auto repair shop. Despite his social awkwardness when interacting with the boy’s mother a few months ago, Clem can handle her kid just fine. Remi’s skills and interest in vehicles provide an opportunity to try and get the kid back onto the right track, without involving law enforcement. It also offers Clem a second chance with the new detective, hoping to make up for that disastrous first encounter.
But their path isn’t an easy one. Both have significant baggage, as one would expect from lives already half lived, and adapting to change can be a challenge. Particularly, when dealing with teenagers which, in this case, means wading into dangerous waters for both Tessa and Clem.
COLD SILENCE (Silence Book #4) by Freya Barker is another wonderful addition to the small-town romantic suspense Silence book series. While there is some character crossover between the small-town characters, each book has a complete romance HEA and self-contained suspense/crime plot so they can be read as standalones. The entire series is excellent, and I enjoyed reading them in order of publication.
Tessa Androtti is the newest detective in Silence working for the county Sheriff Department. After a bad divorce, she is hoping to create a new and happier life for her two teenage boys. Her eldest, Linc, is heavily into sports and easy-going and adapts easily from large town to small town life. Remi is two years younger, moody, not happy about the move, and he is making sure his mother knows how he feels. When Tessa is drawn into a teen’s murder investigation, she does not realize how close to home the danger is lurking.
Clem Tanek owns the only car repair business in Silence. He has been into cars since working with his father and wants to do nothing else. He has both his repair shop and home in the old fire department building and is happy with his friends and uncomplicated life believing having a family has passed him by. When he hears a noise coming from behind his shop at night, he investigates and discovers Remi stealing catalytic converters from cars in the lot. Clem discovers Remi has a love of cars, too, and he reminds him of himself at that age, so he makes a deal to have him work part-time at the garage in exchange for not turning him in, but he knows Remi is keeping secrets. Clem knows he will have to deal with Tessa, but he does not consider that a hardship.
As the chemistry between Clem and Tessa heats up, so does the danger from the people Remi has gotten himself entangled with.
This is an endearing romance with two mature people; one who has endured an abusive relationship and one who believes that finding a partner has passed him by. They come together to form a great couple. The romance plot progresses at a believable rate while both also think of how it will affect the boys. Tessa’s sons are fully developed in their differences, and I loved that even when Remi was being his moody self, he was still protective of his mother. The sex scenes are explicit and hot but also have the emotions that go with them. The suspense/crime plot felt realistic and builds with an ever-increasing sense of jeopardy to a conclusion with an unexpected twist.
I highly recommend this romantic suspense and all the books in this series.
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About the Author
USA Today bestselling author Freya Barker loves writing about ordinary people with extraordinary stories.
Driven to make her books about ‘real’ people; she creates characters who are perhaps less than perfect, each struggling to find their own slice of happy, but just as deserving of romance, thrills, and chills in their lives.
Recipient of the ReadFREE.ly 2019 Best Book We’ve Read All Year Award for “Covering Ollie, the 2015 RomCon “Reader’s Choice” Award for Best First Book, “Slim To None”, and Finalist for the 2017 Kindle Book Award with “From Dust”, Freya continues to add to her rapidly growing collection of published novels as she spins story after story with an endless supply of bruised and dented characters, vying for attention!
In 1986, a child disappeared. Nearly forty years later, a tip line rings.
It’s been almost four decades since Edie Marshall’s little brother, Charlie, vanished on his walk home from day camp. After the case went cold, Edie—who had once dreamed of pursuing a life beyond the confines of her small Vermont town—never left, her dreams disappearing right along with Charlie. In her fifties now, she teaches at her old high school and has returned to her childhood home to care for her ailing mother.
When the long-dormant tip line set up for Charlie rings for the first time in years, Edie assumes it’s a wrong number—but on the other end is Jericho Jenkins, the only person of interest ever identified in the investigation. Jericho believes he’s found something of Charlie’s on his property, and with this news, all the pain and uncertainty of that summer rushes back to Edie, including vivid memories of her best friend, Trill: their shared secrets and the devastating lie Edie told that could have changed everything.
Now Jericho is under suspicion again, Trill is coming home, and her mother’s hope is renewed. Edie’s in the same place with the same people as when Charlie first vanished, but somehow everything is different now, and maybe this time they can discover the truth.
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Elise’s Thoughts
Everything Has Happened by T. Greenwood delves into a mystery surrounding a missing child.
The plot begins with the family’s tip line ringing after forty years. It’s been almost four decades since Edie Marshall’s little brother, Charlie, who vanished on his walk home in 1986. Fast forward to the present, in 2023, when Edie, Charlie’s older sister, has returned to her childhood home to take care of her mother and is now the teacher at her old high school. She answers the tip line and realizes the call is from Jericho, the brother of her estranged best friend and the only person of interest ever identified. He thinks he has found something of Charlie’s on his property.
Edie’s dreams were put on hold after Charlie disappeared. But with the phone call she must now confront the past. Things seem to be going in a repeat direction after Jericho once again falls under suspicion and Edie’s childhood friend Trill returns home. What peaks readers interest are the dual timelines told between the 1980s and 2023.
The story delves into buried truths, forbidden young love, and guilt over what happened. The mystery will keep readers turning the pages.
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Author Interview
Elise Cooper: Idea for the story?
Tammy Greenwood: Several years ago, I listened to a podcast about Jacob Wetterling, a little boy who went missing in Minnesota in the 1980s. One of the episodes was dedicated to the man who had been a person of interest, a music teacher who lived with his mother, near where Jacob disappeared. He was an innocent man, but his life was destroyed by the accusations; he became a pariah in his community. I wanted to explore what happens in the aftermath of an innocent man being suspected of a horrible crime. In the same podcast, Jacob’s parents talked about the tip line phone they had – and the idea of living with such a live wire in one’s home really haunted me. And this was where the first scene came from – a tip line rings after forty years, and on the other end of the line is the man who was wrongly accused.
I also wanted to set a novel in the 1980s. As a Gen X reader, I haven’t read many books that capture what it was like to be a teen in the 80s. I wanted to lean into that nostalgia. Writing, for me, often arises from a desire to revisit places and times in my life.
Lastly, I wanted to tell the story of a young woman’s coming of age in a small town. A girl who is ready to spread her wings only to have all those wild dreams squashed. And that is where we meet Edie – almost forty years after the disappearance of her brother Charlie – as stuck as she was at eighteen years old.
EC: Did you want to get across that a missing person is harder on the family than someone who has been killed?
TG: There is a purgatorial aspect to the lives of these characters. Their home is a virtual time capsule. The tip line phone remains in the family room. Bonnie, the missing boy’s mother, has Alzheimer’s and still believes that Charlie will still walk through the door one day. And Edie, Charlie’s sister, is paralyzed in a life she never chose for herself.
EC: Also, it seems there is a lot of publicity in the beginning but then the world moves on except for the family. What emotions do you want to have the readers understand that the family goes through?
TG: I think the hardest thing about a cold case is that attention spans are short. Initially everyone is actively engaged in the search, attentive to the family’s needs, eager to help. But as time passes, hope and interest both wanes. But for the family the pain lingers. Forever.
EC: What role did Charlie’s disappearance play in the story?
TG: Charlie’s disappearance is the central mystery of the story. It is the question which drives the plot forward. It is a cold case story until the former suspect discovers evidence on his property which opens the case back up.
The novel is told in a dual timeline, where we follow the new leads and then dip back into the events leading up to Charlie’s disappearance.
EC: How would you describe Charlie?
TG: Charlie is a sensitive and inquisitive little boy. He is bright and obsessed with anything to do with space. He adores his older sister and is worried about what will happen to him when she goes off to college.
EC: How would you describe Evie?
TG: Evie is, like so many teens, yearning for what comes next. She’s stuck in a small town; stuck with a boyfriend she really doesn’t love. When Trill moves to town, this world cracks open for her, and suddenly she sees all the different lives she could have. She becomes fixated on going to Smith College instead of the state school in town. And Trill also awakens her sexuality in a way that Nathan simply has not.
EC: How would you describe Trill?
TG: Trill, to Edie, is magical. She lives with her herbalist mother and artist brother on a former commune. She has been living in New York City with her father for the last ten years or so. She’s street savvy and cultured. She’s obsessed with film and wants to be a filmmaker when she grows up.
EC: How would you describe Nathan?
TG: Nathan is Edie’s next-door neighbor – more brother than boyfriend. He’s a good kid. An altar boy at their Catholic church. He works for his dad’s construction company and aspires to take over one day. He loves Edie, or the idea of Edie, anyway. His plans for their future together are clear and immutable.
EC: Can you compare the relationship between Trill and Evie with Nathan and Evie?
TG: Edie likens Nathan to a comfortable pair of slippers. He’s predictable, comfortable, safe. Trill is the exact opposite. She challenges Edie. She is unknowable in some ways. Her life and history are exotic to Edie. She represents everything beyond the confines of this small Vermont town.
But Trill also really sees Edie. And she loves her for who she is, not who she wants her to be.
EC: What was the role of Sylvia Path in the story?
TG: Edie is obsessed with Sylvia Plath. She has read all her journals and letters and poems. She identifies with Plath’s hunger and yearning. With her rage and feelings of paralysis. Trill gets this about Edie in a way that no one else has, and she arranges for the two to take a “Syl-grimage” to all of Sylvia’s haunts, including her old dorm room at Smith. I made a similar Syl-grimage myself several years ago. I was a Plath girl in high school too.
EC: Next book?
TG: I am almost finished with the first draft of a new novel – but I am not talking about it yet.
THANK YOU!!!
***
BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for UNSTOPPABLE (Kate Preacher Thriller Series Book #2) by Michael Maloof on this Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tour.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, an excerpt from the book, the author’s bio and social media links, and a PICT giveaway. Enjoy!
***
Book Description
Former CIA analyst Kate Preacher returns to Paris searching for answers to the terrorist attack that shattered her world—only to find herself in the crosshairs of a sniper who is always one step ahead. Every move she makes is anticipated. Every escape feels temporary. And the deeper she digs, the clearer it becomes that the conspiracy she uncovered is far larger—and closer—than she ever imagined.
When a trusted ally is ambushed and left for dead, Kate realizes she is no longer chasing the enemy.
She is the target.
Her pursuit of the elusive sniper draws her across borders and into Africa’s most dangerous battlegrounds, where warlords, mercenaries, and corrupt powers collide over the fate of a fragile nation. Loyalties shift. Truths fracture. And survival depends on knowing who is lying—before it is too late.
UNSTOPPABLE (Kate Preacher Thriller Series Book #2) by Michael Maloof is another edge-of-your-seat, fast-paced international thriller in this exciting series with a female protagonist that is “unstoppable”. This is a series that needs to be read in order with the continuation of many characters and an overall plot arc, but it is worth every heart-stopping moment, and you will not be disappointed with either book.
Kate Preacher knows she must return to Paris to continue searching for answers surrounding the terrorist attack that shattered her world. What she discovers is an international conspiracy that is far larger than she imagined. As she barely escapes assassination attempts on her life in Paris, the lies, intrigue, and deadly games lead her on her quest for justice to an emerging democracy in Central Africa.
This second book, just like the first, kept me up reading late once again, because it pulls you in with not only extreme action, but emotional attachment to all the characters, and you cannot put it down. Kate is a protagonist who is extremely capable in high-stakes situations with not only highly trained physical skills, but the sharp mind of a brilliant analyst and chess master. The Trident Security team, which Kate now heads, adds to the intensity and intricacy of action situations possible in the plot. The antagonists in this book and series are fully developed and have so many twisted motives and secret agendas that I was continually surprised at every turn which is why I could not stop reading and put the book down. I cannot wait to start the next book!
I highly recommend this fabulous international crime thriller book and series with an “unstoppable” protagonist!
***
Excerpt
PROLOGUE FOUR DAYS BEFORE JAKE’S FUNERAL
MONDAY, APRIL 20th
2:00 PM EDT MANHATTAN INTERNATIONAL TRAUMA CENTER (MITC), NY
In the last forty-eight hours, Kate Preacher had killed seven men. The count doesn’t matter. That’s what Jake would say. The message did: Come at me, and it’s the hospital or the morgue—I don’t care which.
The helicopter’s rotors clawed at the Manhattan sky, lifting Kate into the air and away from the carnage. She was safe—for now.
From the hospital rooftop, Vitali Moshenski watched her ascend, his expression almost fatherly. But Kate didn’t trust him—too many secrets, too much left unsaid. Still, he was useful—opening doors, managing chaos, cleaning up the fallout at Moore Tower
When Kate asked for somewhere to go, Vitali’s first suggestion had been to seek the company of friends. But when she insisted on solitude, he relented, arranging this flight to his Hudson Valley estate—a place to think, to work, and to plan her next move.
Alone in the helicopter, a roller-coaster of emotions and thoughts collided. She was startled to realize it had only been four days.
Four days ago, Jake was in Paris. Smiling. Bragging about an anniversary present. Promising he’d make it home—this time.
That was a promise Jake couldn’t keep. While Kate watched and listened, her world turned upside down. Tires screeched. Cries of “Allahu Akbar!” rang out. She could still hear the continuous explosion of automatic gunfire and the collision of screams and shattered glass. Jake’s phone laying at the edge of the road caught flashes of the terror, while Kate’s screams for her husband vanished amid gunfire and chaos.
The world was shocked by yet another Paris terrorist attack—the senseless murder of thirty-six, and the heroics of a man the French media dubbed l’Américain, the American. It seemed Jake was the right man in the wrong place. Kate knew better—Jake was executed. She didn’t know why, not yet—but she wouldn’t stop until she did.
The helicopter banked east. City lights vanished, replaced by forest and water—but the noise in Kate’s head remained. She closed her eyes, her fingers pressing against the NanoVault beneath her shirt as if the touch might summon Jake’s voice.
She pulled it free, turning the device over in her fingers. The cool metal was familiar now—like a well-worn chess piece between moves. But the board was still a blur. The opponent, unseen.
Jake left her the first move.
She just had to see it.
“Find this,” Jake said in the recording, lifting the device from under his shirt. His voice was steady, but she saw the tension, the clenched jaw. “And do your thing. See what everyone is missing. What I missed. Solve the puzzle. And take them down.”
Kate exhaled slowly, her grip tightening around the device.
Devin Moore never took it off—not until the moment he had no choice.
His throat crushed, gasping for air. He ripped it from his neck and thrust it into her hands. Bargaining for his life.
She let him die.
A marketing ploy. That’s all it was supposed to be. The Golden NanoVault. A high-stakes challenge to hackers around the world—break its encryption, claim a fortune. Fifty million in Bitcoin.
No one ever cracked it. Not even Nomad.
But it wasn’t just a game.
Devin’s encrypted storage wasn’t just a gimmick—it was a vault of secrets, shielding something so dangerous that he killed to keep it buried. A French mathematician—gone. Nomad—next on the list.
And now it was hers.
Jake’s files were inside, somewhere beneath layers of encryption. But what else did Moore hide? He built this empire on privacy, selling the illusion of security to the world. But what was he protecting for himself?
She exhaled again, gripping the NanoVault tighter.
The helicopter jolted slightly, catching an air pocket. Kate opened her eyes, swallowing the ache in her throat, and glanced at the co-pilot.
He gestured toward the window, his voice cutting through the roar of the rotors. “Almost there.”
Kate tugged at her harness, then leaned forward, her gaze following his hand. What she saw was a picture of old-money grandeur—a relic of America’s Gilded Age. She guessed the estate was easily 200 acres, or more, of rolling hills and forest, the kind of property built by families whose names adorned library wings and hospital foundations.
The helicopter touched down on a pad set just beyond the main house. Everything about the man who greeted her, from his posture to the way he clasped his hands behind his back, radiated an unshakable confidence that came with a lifetime of service.
“Mrs. Preacher,” he began, his voice as polished as the rest of him. “Welcome to Deerfield. I am Langdon, the estate manager. Mr. Moshenski asked me to ensure your stay is…uninterrupted.”
Kate raised an eyebrow, her curiosity piqued. “Langdon,” she repeated, testing the name. “Do you have a first name?”
“No, ma’am,” he replied with the faintest hint of a smile. “Langdon will suffice.”
Her lips quirked, a faint smirk escaping. “Alright, Langdon. Lead the way.”
Langdon gave a small nod, his expression betraying the barest trace of amusement. “I understand you’re traveling light,” he continued, “so a few essentials have been selected and placed in your suite. Additionally, Mr. Moshenski has arranged for a personal stylist to assist with anything else you may require. Discreetly, of course.”
Kate’s smirk deepened, and she allowed herself a wry glance at him. “Of course.”
* * *
The Highlands Suite was a picture of understated elegance. A central seating area. A plush gray couch. A large picture window framed a view of rolling hills and a shimmering lake below, its surface reflecting the golden hues of the late afternoon sun. Beyond the lake, groves of ancient trees stood like sentinels.
By the window sat a small dining table with a setting for one. A bowl of perfectly arranged fruit and an assortment of artisanal snacks—a small plate of cheeses, crackers, and chocolates.
Langdon gestured to the table. “The chef thought you might appreciate a few light refreshments after your journey. Dinner can be served here, should you prefer, or in the main dining room.”
Kate glanced at the table, already certain this was where she would dine. “This is perfect,” she began. “Are there any other guests?”
“No, ma’am,” Langdon replied. “And none are expected.”
Thank God, she thought. No introductions, meaningless chit-chat, questions, or condolences.
“In the master closet, you’ll find an estate robe and slippers, along with a few additional items procured for your stay. Should you require anything further, your stylist is scheduled to meet with you tomorrow morning at nine, but she’s at your disposal should you wish to adjust the time.”
Kate nodded, but her attention was captured by the executive workstation positioned near the far wall. “Floating high-res monitors. Herman Miller chair,” she began. “Power and network ports, cable management, and task lighting—this setup was designed by an expert.”
Langdon nodded and smiled. “The card on the desk provides details on accessing the estate’s network.” He paused, a hint of humor threading his voice. “I suspect, given your expertise, you’ll find the setup adequate. Mr. Moshenski has asked that you refrain from exploring the estate’s network security. He suspects you would have little difficulty circumventing our defenses but would prefer you not test that theory.”
Kate allowed herself a faint smile. “Understood.”
When Langdon left, Kate dropped her bag onto the couch and plopped down alongside. For the first time in days, she felt a flicker of calm. Just a flicker, but for now, it was enough.
* * *
Whether consciously or not, everything about her arrival at the estate had been in slow motion. Bathing, changing, dinner in the room—even setting up her devices—each step had been careful, methodical, and calculated. But beneath it all, she knew the truth: she was afraid.
Moore’s NanoVault was a Pandora’s box. At the last possible moment, Jake’s files had been transferred to the device, but their condition was a mystery. She suspected some files would be corrupt. But how many? And how important? She was afraid of what she might find—and might not. She was afraid to fail.
She sat at the workstation, her fingers cradling the device, hesitating as the weight of its history pressed down on her.
Jake’s files weren’t just answers to his final riddle—they were a reckoning. And now, with his files tucked inside Moore’s one-of-a-kind device, Kate wondered what else was on Moore’s NanoVault. What secrets might Devin have secured on the vault, Kate wondered. What did he think was so valuable, so important, he never took this off—except to bargain for his life?
Kate took a deep breath, steadying herself. You can do this, she thought, echoing Jake’s words from the video. Solve the puzzle. See what everyone else missed.
She pushed the fear aside, connected the device to her system, and considered Moore’s passcode.
Hardly unique, she thought. He must have believed the code’s irrelevance added security. In that regard, he wasn’t wrong. Most passwords, phrases, and codes had a personal connection, and with enough time and background information, they were relatively easy to break.
Kate recalled Moore lying on the floor, his trachea crushed, the image of him gasping for air and pleading silently for her help burned into her mind. With trembling hands, he tore the device from the chain around his neck and pressed it into her palm. His right hand lifted weakly, flashing three fingers, then one, then four, repeating the sequence over and over—three, one, four.
She turned to the NanoVault and set its mechanical dials to the first seven digits of Pi:
3-1-4-1-5-9-2
The lock clicked open.
***
Author Bio
Michael Maloof is the author of the Kate Preacher Thriller Series—Relentless, Unstoppable, and Defiant—known for its global scope, emotional intensity, and hard-won authenticity. His novels draw readers into high-stakes worlds where intelligence, courage, and consequence collide. A lifelong adventurer, Michael has traveled to more than forty countries across six continents, experiences that deeply inform his writing. His real-world pursuits have ranged from gold dredging in Honduras and artifact hunting in Guatemala to acquiring uncut diamonds in Liberia and surviving an elephant charge in Kenya. He has also trained alongside Navy SEALs, Marine Raiders, Army Rangers, Green Berets, and the CIA—firsthand insights that lend his fiction uncommon realism and respect for the craft of service.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for THE VIVALDI CIPHER (Vatican Secret Archive Thrillers Book #1) by Gary McAvoy on this Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tour.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, an excerpt from the book, the author’s bio and social media links, and a PICT giveaway. Enjoy!
***
Book Description
During the election of a new Pope in the mid-18th century, famed violinist Antonio Vivaldi learns of a ring of art forgers who are replacing the Vatican’s priceless treasures with expertly-painted fakes. Desperate, the composer hides a message in a special melody, hoping someone, someday, will take down the culprits . . .
Nearly three hundred years later, the confession of a dying Mafia Don alerts a Venetian priest to a wealth of forged paintings in the Vatican Museum, and the key to their identities lies hidden in a puzzling piece of music. Father Michael Dominic, prefect of the Secret Archives, investigates, and is mystified when he finds a cipher in an old composition from Vivaldi. Desperate to stop this centuries-long conspiracy, he calls on fellow sleuth Hana Sinclair and Dr. Livia Gallo, a music cryptologist, to help him crack the code and learn the truth.
But the Camorra, a centuries-old Italian Mafia clan, won’t stand by while some interfering priest ruins their most lucrative operation. Along with a French commando and two valiant Swiss Guards, Dominic explores the dark canals and grand palazzos of Venice to uncover the evidence he needs to stop the sinister plot. Can he unearth it in time, or will the Church’s most valuable artworks fall prey to this massive conspiracy?
Genre: Suspense, Suspense Thrillers, Historical Thriller Published by: Literati Editions Publication Date: August 16, 2021 Number of Pages: 400 ISBN: 9781954123076 (ISBN10: 1954123078) Series: Vatican Secret Archive Thrillers, Book 1
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My Book Review
RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars
THE VIVALDI CIPHER (Vatican Secret Archive Thrillers Book #1) by Gary McAvoy is an exciting, fast-paced, action-packed international thriller that is about a three-hundred-year-old conspiracy involving the Vatican’s vast collection of world-famous paintings and the Venetian Camorra (Mafia). The protagonists are led once again by Father Michael Dominic and his cast of friends who were together in Mr. McAvoy’s previous trilogy, The Magdalene Chronicles. While the characters were in previous books together, you can read this book as a standalone.
A Venetian priest takes the confession of a dying Camorra don and learns of a three-hundred-year ongoing conspiracy involving the Vatican’s most famous paintings, forgery, and the Venetian Camorra. The priest is troubled by the confession and Father Michael Dominic, prefect of the Secret Archives, is called in to investigate. Friend and French reporter, Hana Sinclair, is along to assist and soon they discover they are in more danger than anticipated when a Vivaldi music score is translated and exposes a centuries long conspiracy of forgery between corrupt church officials and the Venetian Camorra.
Can Michael, Hana, and friends uncover the evidence they need to stop this ongoing conspiracy without becoming victims of the Camorra don and his assassins?
I really got caught up in this thriller plot and could not stop reading. There is constant action and high stakes encounters with not only Mafia killers, but corrupt Vatican employees. While not all the characters’ actions are realistic in a few parts of the story, their actions are still exciting, move the plot forward, and did not detract from my enjoyment of the overall story. Even with the fast pace, Mr. McAvoy was able to intersperse moments of art history, art forgery, and interesting facts about Vivaldi throughout. I prefer to read books in order and thought I was reading book one in this series, which I was, but the characters were in a previous trilogy together, so I did have some questions about their previous connections, but it did not stop me from enjoying this book.
I can recommend this exhilarating thriller, and I am looking forward to more books in the Vatican Secret Archive Thrillers series.
***
Excerpt
Prologue
Vatican City, Rome – February 1740
The first symptom of the poisoning began as a fever.
Sitting at one of two long, white-silk-draped tables in the Sistine Chapel, along with sixty-seven of his fellow cardinal-electors, Pietro Ottoboni cast his vote for pope on the eighth day of the conclave to replace the late Pope Clement XII.
Enfeebled by fever, the seventy-three-year-old Ottoboni made his way toward the front of the chapel to a small altar below Michelangelo’s majestic fresco The Last Judgment, dropped his ballot onto a brass saucer, then tipped the saucer, letting the ballot fall into the large brass urn beneath it.
A few moments later, having returned to his seat, the cardinal collapsed onto the table, the high temperature having sapped his energy. Shocked, the other cardinals stood to better see what was happening to their colleague. The master of papal liturgical celebrations suspended the conclave while they moved Ottoboni to his apartment under the care of a Vatican physician.
Long considered favorite among the papabili to succeed Pope Clement, Pietro Ottoboni was born in the Most Serene Republic of Venice to a rich and noble family, whose most distinguished member was his grand-uncle, Pope Alexander VIII. Ottoboni had held every important post in the Vatican during an illustrious career and, as cardinal-bishop to several churches in Italy, his annual salary exceeded fifty thousand gold scudi—the present-day equivalent of six million dollars per year.
Cardinal Ottoboni had been a prolific paramour with a countless number of lovers, many of whom were married to the great patricians of Venice. In fact, the famous masks unique to Venetians were introduced not to ward off the plague, as many later believed, but to officially disguise the wearer’s identity—thus permitting anyone, noble or peasant, to do or say whatever one pleased. With this ingenious permissiveness, affari di cuore—affairs of the heart—were as common as the fleet of gondolas plying the canals of the celebrated city, without legal recourse. Having taken full advantage of this liberal device, Cardinal Ottoboni was known to have produced up to seventy children in his lifetime among his various mistresses.
Though he lived well in Rome’s grand Palazzo della Cancelleria, Ottoboni’s greatest passions were music and art, and he was a generous patron to some of the most renowned masters in both fields: Arcangelo Corelli, Alessandro Scarlatti, Giuseppe Crespi, Tintoretto, Paolo Veronese—and most of all, to his close friend and protégé, the prodigious maestro di violino of Venice, Antonio Vivaldi.
As he lay on his deathbed, Ottoboni summoned Vivaldi to his side. In a low, rasping voice, the cardinal confided to his friend a tale of great importance, a scandalous operation run by the notoriously corrupt Cardinal Niccolò Coscia in league with the feared secret Mafia organization known as the Camorra.
In fact, he added with struggling breath, he was convinced it was Coscia, acting on orders from the Camorra, who had poisoned him to keep him from acting on what he knew. With information gleaned from one of his many spies, Ottoboni had discovered the ongoing scandal days earlier and approached Cardinal Coscia with a warning that he and his Camorra would soon be out of business, at least as far as the Vatican was concerned. Were it not for his required attendance in the papal conclave, he would have put a stop to it sooner, especially if he was elected pope, an elevation to supreme power that was expected by everyone.
The following day, however, Cardinal Ottoboni succumbed to the poison, killed for a secret now known only to Antonio Vivaldi.
Like most Italians, Vivaldi survived cautiously within the Camorra’s Venetian sphere of influence. The secret society’s tentacles reached into everyone’s life, and their strict enforcement of the seal of omertà—the sacred code of silence—ensured clan activities remained discreet and wholly within la familia. The family.
Since the late seventeenth century, the Camorra had carved out its territories, starting in Naples and moving northward into the Lombardy and Veneto regions of Italy, encompassing its most lucrative prizes, Milan and Venice. Competing with La Cosa Nostra in Sicily and the ‘Ndrangheta of Calabria, the Camorra’s criminal enterprises included prostitution, gambling, smuggling, kidnapping, and art theft—but also the unusual niche of producing and selling fine art forgeries of the highest order.
During the earlier reign of Pope Benedict XIII, who cared little for managing his vast realm of Papal States, Cardinal Niccolò Coscia oversaw all Vatican government operations, taking advantage of his authority to carry out substantial financial abuses, virtually draining the papal treasury. But his ongoing misdeeds eventually caught up with him. In 1731, he was charged with corruption, tried and convicted to ten years’ imprisonment, and excommunicated from the Church.
However, still not without influence, he managed to get his heavy sentence commuted to a mere fine. He was also mysteriously reinstated as a cardinal, allowing him to take part in the papal conclave of 1740—the one during which Cardinal Ottoboni had died.
* * *
With Ottoboni out of the way, Cardinal Niccolò Coscia could now carry out his master plan without hindrance. In his not-so-secret role as capo of the Roman Camorra, Coscia led development of the Veneto branch of the Mafia clan, based in Venice and headquartered in his own newly acquired Palazzo Feudatario on the Grand Canal. Purchased with funds he had discreetly absconded from the Vatican treasury, Feudatario would be a most fitting place to carry out his planned forgery operation of the Vatican’s most profound works of art.
Niccolò Coscia was a meticulous diarist and, owing to all the business he conducted outside the Church, he had created the first book to record the activities of his new organization, naming it IlGiornale Coscia della Camorra Veneta—The Coscia Journal of the Veneto Camorra. In it he would secretly record careful notations of all paintings by artist and title, including each work’s provenance and to whom the forgeries or originals were sold, depending on which he chose to return to the Vatican—for many were prominently displayed in public, while most were simply returned to the Vatican’s vast art storage vaults, unseen by anyone.
The Coscia Journal would be passed down to each capintesta, head of the Veneto Camorra, for generations.
Unfortunately for Coscia, Cardinal Ottoboni’s spies had discovered not only the Camorra’s abhorrent plan for art forgeries, but the very existence of the Coscia Journal for recording such transactions. At that point Ottoboni’s death was preordained, for no one could ever know such proof existed.
* * *
Antonio Vivaldi, who at age twenty-five was ordained a Roman Catholic priest, was now at a crossroads. He feared possessing knowledge of the treacherous secret passed on to him by his esteemed patron in his dying moments. Putting himself at odds with the Camorra was not just an unappealing prospect; it could end up costing him his life, depending on what he did with what he knew.
But Cardinal Ottoboni had one last request of his protégé.
Intent on stopping the sinful and unlawful activities of Cardinal Coscia, Ottoboni had pleaded with Vivaldi to see that Coscia was brought to justice, to pay for his felonious actions. Distressed by letting his friend and mentor die without the satisfaction of such a promise, Vivaldi agreed to do what he could. He would ensure that the authorities were informed, the Coscia Journal would be found, and the matter would be settled.
After the cardinal’s stately funeral, Vivaldi waited for the right moment to fulfill his promise. But as he waited, he became more apprehensive. He was just a lowly priest, after all, and not a very good one at that. The violin was his life, and teaching it was his life’s work. Besides, who would believe him? Where was the proof? And what would the Camorra do to him if he were to expose its business? He had seen the results of their retribution—those who crossed the Mafia were dealt with harshly. Beheadings were not uncommon, and those who weren’t beheaded were drawn and quartered—alive. No, he must find a way to honor his pledge without exposing himself to such horrible consequences.
An idea came to him: he would hide the messages in plain sight, in his musical compositions.Picking up a sheet of staff lined manuscript paper, Vivaldi began to assemble the first of many, his Scherzo Tiaseno in Sol.
***
Author Bio
Gary McAvoy is an American novelist known for internationally bestselling thrillers that blend historical intrigue, religious scholarship, and modern suspense. A lifelong researcher of rare manuscripts and Church history, he draws on extensive archival study to craft narratives rooted in authentic detail. His work includes the Vatican Secret Archive Thrillers, the Magdalene Chronicles, and the Vatican Archaeology Thrillers. Before turning to fiction, McAvoy built a distinguished career as an entrepreneur, technology consultant, and collector of historical documents. He now writes full time from the Pacific Northwest, where he continues to explore the shadowed crossroads of faith, power, and history.
