For software pioneer Martin Post, the third richest man in America, his private compound on the Florida coast is a sunny no-man’s-land separating his family from the rest of the world. Now, expert forensic analysts Ellie Carr and Rachael Davies of the renowned Locard Institute have been summoned to its dark side.
Martin’s pregnant daughter, Ashley, had ventured on a day trip in her motorboat into the Gulf, only to wash up dead on a nearby shore. Although the local coroner determined her death was an accident, Ellie and Rachael soon confirm Martin’s gravest fear: His daughter was murdered. Was it a kidnapping gone wrong? Or something even more brutal? Ashley and her husband, Greg, had been working working with Martin on a revolutionary new defense initiative for the US military – could espionage have played a part in her death? Martin believes Greg is behind the murder, and the spoiled charmer does set off Rachel’s deception radar. If the widower didn’t kill Ashley himself, why isn’t he more upset that she’s dead?
Drawn into the Posts’ increasingly dangerous family dynamic, Ellie and Rachael must work hard and fast to discover what secrets are buried at the heart of the crime. Because the churning waters of the Gulf are getting rougher. And soon, Ellie and Rachael themselves will be in danger of getting crushed in their depths.
THE DEEPEST KILL (A Locard Institute Thriller Book #3) by Lisa Black is another exciting crime thriller in the Locard Institute series featuring two female forensic experts who unite to solve deadly crimes from all over the country. While this is the third book in the series, they can all be read as standalone stories, but you continue to learn more about each of the main protagonists’ personal lives and backgrounds in each and I have enjoyed reading them in published order for that reason.
Dr. Rachel Davies and Dr. Ellie Carr, from the Locard Institute travel to Florida when they are hired by software billionaire Martin Post. Post does not believe his daughter’s death was an accident even though that was the local M.E.’s determination. All the evidence points to the son-in-law who claims his innocence, but Rachel and Ellie continue to discover small inconsistencies. With each new discovery, Rachel and Ellie put themselves in the crosshairs of a killer who will stop at nothing to obtain their goals.
This is a crime thriller that pulled me in right from the start. The peril and suspense in the plot continue to escalate throughout with plenty of twists and red herrings. The clues Rachel and Ellie discovered along the way were intriguing and display the ingenuity of the author’s experience in the forensics field. Intertwined with the crime thriller plot were revelations from Ellie’s past, both personal and about her mother’s death. I felt there was an excellent balance between character development, crime plot, and description of forensics in this addition to the series.
I highly recommend this exciting crime thriller, the entire Locard Institute Thriller series, and this author.
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About the Author
Lisa Black’s books have reached the NYT bestsellers list, been translated into six languages and have been optioned for film. Perish was shortlisted for the inaugural Sue Grafton Memorial Award by Putnam and Mystery Writers of America. Lisa will be a Guest of Honor at 2021 Killer Nashville.
She is a certified crime scene analyst in Florida and a former forensic scientist for the Cleveland coroner’s office. She is a member of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, the International Association for Identification, and the International Association of Bloodstain Pattern Analysts, and has testified in more than fifty homicide trials.
She still aspires to drive Nancy Drew’s convertible and marry Ellery Queen.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for THE LEOPARD OF CAIRO (Apex Predator Espionage Thrillers Book #1) by Bayard and Holmes on this Author Marketing Experts Blog Tour.
Below you will find a guest post from the authors, a book summary, my book review, an excerpt from the book, and the authors’ bios and social media links. Enjoy!
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Guest Post from the Authors
As Bayard & Holmes, we are known for accuracy in our espionage tradecraft. This is due to Jay Holmes’s fifty years of military and intelligence experience fighting against the Soviets and the terrorist groups they sponsored during the Cold War, straight through to the current Global War on Terror. As a result of our experience and authenticity, people like to ask us questions about the shadow world.
One of the common questions we receive is, “What are some of the most common mistakes writers make about the CIA?” The answer to that would be vocabulary.
Our espionage professionals at the CIA do not refer to themselves as spies. The word “spy” is considered a bit derogatory. As Holmes says, “Spying is seamy. It’s what the Russians do.” Technically, spies are foreigners who are spying on us, or they are foreigners who are spying on other countries for us.
Also, and this is a big one for the folks at the CIA, the intelligence personnel at the Agency are not “CIA agents.” In the world of the CIA, agents are people, most often foreigners, who are spying for our behalf on their own or other foreign governments.
The exceptions to that rule are the actual guards at the physical facilities. For example, if you were to go to headquarters, the personnel in security who would greet you at the gate are “CIA agents.” An easy rule of thumb is that if the position someone holds regards law enforcement, physical protection, or facilities security, they are agents.
In other words, Jack Ryan is not a CIA agent, but the guard he talks to at the front gate of headquarters is an agent, and the foreign spy who gives him information is an agent.
Instead of being spies or agents, our intelligence personnel are referred to as “officers” and “operatives.” Intelligence personnel at the CIA are technically called officers, which is a label particular to the CIA. CIA officers are actual employees of the CIA rather than contractors, and they get pretty touchy when you call them agents.
The term operative can apply to CIA officers and contractors, as well as to personnel from other civilian and military intelligence organizations. The term is rather vague and has no official definition, but it generally refers to men and women who work in field operations.
So to sum things up, Jack Ryan is not a spy or an agent, he is a CIA officer who must guard against foreign spies, collect intelligence from foreign agents, and sometimes goes into the field with operatives.
This is just one example of the accuracy that is the hallmark of our Bayard & Holmes fiction. To supplement, we have a Truth & Fiction section at the end of The Leopard of Cairo and all our novels, and we are happy to take your questions about the shadow world at the Contact page at our website, BayardandHolmes.com.
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Book Summary
John Viera left his CIA fieldwork hoping for a “normal” occupation and a long-awaited family, but when a Pakistani engineer is kidnapped from a top-secret US project and diplomatic entanglements tie the government’s hands, the Intelligence Community turns to John and his team of ex-operatives to investigate — strictly off the books. They uncover a plot of unprecedented magnitude that will precipitate the slaughter of millions.
From the corporate skyscrapers of Montreal to the treacherous alleys of Baluchistan, these formidable enemies strike, determined to create a regional apocalypse and permanently alter the balance of world power. Isolated in their knowledge of the impending devastation, John and his network stand alone between total destruction and the Leopard of Cairo.
THE LEOPARD OF CAIRO (Apex Predator Espionage Thrillers Book #1) by Bayard and Holmes is an edge-of-your-seat international espionage thriller with storytelling that pulls you into exotic locations and takes you on a thrilling adventure to stop a plot to change the world’s governments balance of power. This is the first book in the series, and I cannot wait to get started on book #2, The Panther of Baracoa.
John Viera has left the CIA to start a “normal” life, but occasionally gets called back into off-the-book operations with a team of other ex-operatives who are able to accomplish jobs the government legally or politically cannot. John and the team are sent to discover why an engineer and his young daughter have been kidnapped, but what they discover is just the tip of the iceberg in a conspiracy that could end up killing millions.
This plot never lets up on the action and peril. The authors are able to introduce you to many characters, both good and bad, while never losing the fast pace of the story and also surprising you with the many plot twists throughout. John Viera and the rest of the team are fully developed both in their personal lives and their contributions to the team. The intrigue and mystery of the shadow cabal is a great way to keep me hooked and ready to grab the next book in the series.
I highly recommend this exciting start to this international espionage thriller!
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Excerpt
THE LEOPARD OF CAIRO
John Viera jumped back from the swirl of soot. The bright green-and-blue Quetta city bus choked out another cloud, and a donkey beside it snorted, rattling its cart full of secondhand housewares. The vendor in the driver’s seat searched the crowd for one last customer. John ignored his hopeful glance and watched the bus chug deeper into the bowels of the Hazara Town market district.
The aroma of fresh bread sweetened the stench of exhaust that hung over the rush-hour crunch. John ducked into the bakeshop’s recessed doorway and scanned the street.
Bright paints battled vainly to beautify cement walls between dirty gray roll-down metal shop doors. Signs above the portals broadcast goods and trades in Urdu and English, revealing the creep of Westernization into the Islamic stronghold. Above John’s head, electrical wires crisscrossed, tying the one- and two-story structures together.
Vendors bustled to secure their wares in time for evening prayers. Mothers gripping plain cloth shopping bags herded children down sidewalks while bicycles competed with cars and donkey carts for street rights. None of them appeared to notice John. Western influence was widespread enough that he did not stand out with his collar-length umber hair, reddish beard, blue jeans, and khaki jacket.
Satisfied there were no immediate threats from the street, he glanced at his watch: 5:45. Martin would be waiting. John exited the bakery doorway and continued in the bus’s wake.
A bicyclist veered into traffic, and a truck swerved and jerked, cutting off a rusty sedan. The sedan’s horn blared. John flinched and pressed his hand to his ear.
¡Hostias! ¡Qué idiotas! He wished for a split second that he was still crouched in the mountains of Afghanistan, where he was sanctioned by the US government to capture or kill hostile actors, or at least to slam their heads in their car doors. In the city, though, he was constrained by rules of law and discretion. John quelled his irritation and strode to the corner.
He crossed with the light and visualized the remainder of his route to Martin’s. His MI6 counterpart had said his good-byes only a few weeks before, anticipating the welcoming women and rich cigars he would explore at his new post in Cuba. What ill wind could have blown the man from paradise back to hell so soon? Had he identified the mole in MI6? John picked up his pace.
An open truck shoved past, its load of sheep bleating protests through warped wooden slats, stinking of mud and hay. John wrinkled his nose. A block up the street, the truck spun a U-turn through an unlikely gap in the traffic and parked in front of a restaurant.
The bus ahead of John stopped at the corner across from the sheep. Passengers crowded on. Then a shopkeeper stepped from his corner store and threw his arms wide. The bus driver sprang to the sidewalk. The men clasped in a hug and submerged into conversation.
A fresh-faced woman in a pink hijab and sky-blue kameez veered around the talking driver, a little boy in tow. The child hugged a toy blow-up horse and grinned as if he clutched the Koh-i-Noor diamond. John gave the boy a smile when he passed.
Suddenly, three men in gray kameez tunics and salwar trousers burst around the opposite street corner. John’s head snapped up, drawn by their speed and focus. They stopped and scanned the crowd. One pointed toward the truckload of sheep and then pulled a pistol and fired.
John dove behind a parked car and drew his Makarov pistol from his waistband. Fight or flight? He stilled his urge to fire back. The last thing he needed was to become embroiled in a local turf war, particularly so near Martin’s. He only hoped his friend was not involved. He had to get to Martin.
More shots. Horns blared, and cars crowded one another to escape. The bus driver levitated into his vehicle. He threw it into gear and bullied his way around the corner. People who had sheltered behind the bus scrambled toward shops, even as shopkeepers slammed down their corrugated metal doors. Only two people weren’t moving—the child with the toy horse kneeling beside the woman in the pink hijab.
Blood seeped across her shoulder and rib cage. She gestured toward a shop with her good arm and shouted in Urdu. “Run. Now. Run.” The child burrowed closer.
John shoved his pistol in his waistband and charged to the woman. He swept her up and spoke to the boy in Urdu. “Follow us.” He sprinted toward a spice stall. The child dropped the horse and dogged John’s heels. The shopkeeper met John’s eyes, shook his head, and crashed down his metal door.
A bullet whizzed past and shattered a divot from the cement wall. John ducked away from the flying chips. The woman in his arms screamed, and her gaze sought her son. The boy tugged the end of her kameez and let go.
“Here,” cried a voice.
The bus driver’s friend crouched, holding open a slice of doorway at his corner shop. John ran, the boy beside him. The man rolled up the door to let them in and then slammed it down behind them.
Frightened people shuffled aside, and John laid the woman on the floor. Bright red oozed from her shoulder, shading her blue kameez a deep purple. She gripped her arm close and grimaced. John whipped off his jacket, peeled out of his T-shirt, and pressed the cotton against the wound.
The woman groaned. “Hakeem. Where is Hakeem?”
“I have him.” A man pushed forward and showed her the child in his arms. “He is unharmed.”
John spotted the shopkeeper. “Call an ambulance, and bring some towels.”
“We don’t have towels,” the man said. A woman with her hands full of T-shirts pushed past him.
“We can use these. I’m a nurse.” She knelt beside John. “I will care for her.”
“Thank you.” John moved out of the woman’s way and turned to the store owner. “Where is your bathroom?”
The man pointed to a door at the back of the store. John wedged through the people and opened it onto a reeking closet where a window gaped wide above a hole in the ground with a footprint on each side. He pulled himself through the window into an alley, and he landed on his feet and ran.
Three blocks later, he slowed to a walk. A knife vendor gawked and John glanced down. His blood-smeared jacket hung open, revealing his bare six-pack. He zipped up the coat.
A block away, a sign reading Changezi’s tilted across the street front of a three-story cement apartment building. In front, a white panel van purred to life and whisked away as John crossed the street. John circled toward Changezi’s dwelling at the back of the building. He turned the corner and froze.
Changezi’s goat pen hung open, and his three nannies clustered at his front door. John’s skin prickled. Even Changezi’s youngest child would not be so careless with such valuable property. He drew his pistol and shooedthe goats the five steps into the pen. Then he knocked at the manager’s door. Silence answered—a sound unprecedented from a home with two wives and five young children.
John bounded up the steps to Martin’s old apartment door. A bullet hole gaped next to the doorknob, and splinters littered the ground. His heart racing, he hugged the wall, pistol in hand, and tried the knob. The door swung wide. More silence.
He ducked low and peeked around the corner into the apartment’s shadowed hallway. Nothing. He crept up the passage to the living room.
A threadbare divan squatted under a window next to a weathered table that had been tipped sideways. Two straight-backed chairs stood by an upended bowl with two apples on the floor.
“Come out,” John said.
A man rose, his hands up. His gaze riveted to the bloodstains on John’s jacket, and his knees quivered. “Don’t shoot. I have a wife and child. Please.” A woman in a navy-blue headscarf peered from behind him. She clutched a bundle in her arms.
John lowered his weapon slightly. “I’m looking for a man named Martin. He’s English. My height and build. Blond hair and blue eyes. Have you seen him?”
The man’s eyes grew wide. He shook his head. “I saw nothing.”
John dropped his pistol to his side. “I don’t even need to know your name. What happened, and did you see him?”
“Nothing. Nothing happened.”
The woman’s glance darted from John to her husband and back. Then she lowered her eyes and stared at the child in her arms.
“It’s clear a bullet came through that door recently. I’m not with whoever did that. I only want to find my friend.” John retrieved an apple from the floor and settled into a chair with the manner of an overlord. “I can see something happened here, and I’m not leaving until you tell me.” He raised the apple to take a bite.
“Wait,” the man said.
John moved the apple away from his mouth and cocked his head.
“I saw a blond man in the hallway. I was taking out my trash, and he ran out of the flat next door. He jumped down the rubbish chute. Then three men ran up the stairs and started shooting. I barely made it back inside.”
John stood. “Have you seen these men before?”
“Never.”
“What did they look like?”
The man shifted and glanced toward the door, as if expecting the men to reappear. His voice was barely audible. “Black hair and gray clothing. That is all I saw.”
John’s mind flashed on the shooters at the market, and dark fear unfolded. He tossed the unbitten apple to the man. “Thank you.”
He readied his Makarov and stole from the apartment. The next door slanted ajar. Standing against the wall, John reached out and tapped it. It creaked open. A sharp whiff of bleach wafted into the hallway. He peered inside.
Chaos. A table skewed sideways, kitchen drawers dangled, and stuffing sprouted from chair cushions. No sign of Martin. John scanned the debris and noticed a minute red spot on the carpet. He knelt down and touched it. Then he sniffed. The iron tang of blood filled his nostrils.
John bolted down the stairs to the trash room. A red trail spotted from the Dumpster to the back door and stopped. A chill ran up his spine. He combed the alley. It was empty—no one and no clues. Martin was gone.
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Author Bios
Piper Bayard is an author and a recovering attorney with a college degree or two. She is also a belly dancer and a former hospice volunteer. She has been working daily with her good friend Jay Holmes for the past decade, learning about foreign affairs, espionage history, and field techniques for the purpose of writing fiction and nonfiction. She currently pens espionage nonfiction and international spy thrillers with Jay Holmes, as well as post-apocalyptic fiction of her own.
Jay Holmes is a forty-five-year veteran of field espionage operations with experience spanning from the Cold War fight against the Soviets, the East Germans, and the various terrorist organizations they sponsored to the present Global War on Terror. He is unwilling to admit to much more than that. Piper is the public face of their partnership.
Together, Bayard & Holmes author non-fiction articles and books on espionage and foreign affairs, as well as fictional international spy thrillers. They are also the bestselling authors of The Spy Bride from the Risky Brides Bestsellers Collection and were featured contributors for Social In Worldwide, Inc.
When they aren’t writing or, in Jay’s case, busy with “other work,” Piper and Jay are enjoying time with their families, hiking, exploring back roads of America, talking foreign affairs, laughing at their own rude jokes until the wee hours, and questing for the perfect chocolate cake recipe.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for THE OTHER MURDER by Kevin G. Chapman on this Black Tide Book Tour.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Description
Sometimes, the most dangerous thing . . . is the truth.
For disgraced cable news producer Hannah Hawthorne, covering the shooting of a pretty NYU sophomore is a chance for redemption. When the story snowballs into a media circus, Hannah’s reporting fans the sensationalistic flames and earns her acclaim. The tragic murder prompts protests and vigils that further magnify the story.
Meanwhile, Paulo, a neighborhood newspaper reporter, is following the other murder in Washington Square Park that same night – a young Hispanic boy. He discovers an unexpected connection that is political dynamite. When Hannah and Paulo team up, they uncover disturbing facts, leading them to question everything they thought they knew. It also leads them to the man who might be the killer.
When the story is ready to explode, the truth may be hotter than anyone can handle. Breaking the next scoop could ruin Paulo’s paper and wreck Hannah’s career – and it could get them both killed.
If you like David Baldacci’s page-turners, Michael Connelly’s cops, and Sara Paretsky’s quirky characters, you will love The Other Murder.
TRIGGER WARNING: Heavy theme of racism in the context of the news media’s coverage.
THE OTHER MURDER by Kevin G. Chapman is a crime thriller/police procedural with a twist in the storytelling that shines the light on media bias today. This is a tour de force standalone crime fiction novel that I could not put down.
Two people are murdered on opposite sides of Central Park. One a female white NYU student and the other a male Hispanic high school student. The media latches on to the white female’s murder and the story broadcasts across the country, while the Hispanic male’s story is largely ignored. No one believes the two may be tied together.
The story is written with intertwining perspectives between two journalists investigating the murders and two NYPD detectives investigating the murders. The investigation is very well plotted and paced between both groups, but what made this an exceptional read for me was the integration throughout the story of differences in handling, investigating, and reporting on crime depending on gender, ethnicity, and social class of the victim. It shines a spotlight on what media organizations believe readers want to read vs. the entire truth of the story.
All the characters in this story are fully developed, relatable and realistic, both good and bad. The plot is believable on every level. There is nothing I would want to change.
I highly recommend this brilliant crime thriller/police procedural!
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About the Author
Kevin G. Chapman is an attorney specializing in labor and employment law and an independent author. In 2021, Kevin finished the first five books in the Mike Stoneman Thriller series. Righteous Assassin (Mike Stoneman Thriller #1), was named one of the top 20 Mystery/Thrillers of 2019 by the Kindle Book Review and was a finalist for the Chanticleer Book Review CLUE award. Deadly Enterprise (Mike Stoneman Thriller #2) was also named a top-20 Mystery/Thriller of 2020 by the Kindle Book Review and made the Short-List for the 2020 CLUE Award. Book #3, Lethal Voyage, was the winner of the 2021 Kindle Book Award and a Finalist for the CLUE and for the InD’Tale Magazine RONE Award. Book #4 in the series, Fatal Infraction, was named Best Police Procedural of the year by the Chanticleer Book Review, and book #5 (Perilous Gambit) was published November 24, 2021. Kevin has also written a serious political drama, A Legacy of One, originally published in 2016, which was short-listed for the Chanticleer Somerset Award for literary fiction. A Legacy of One was re-published in a newly re-edited and revised second edition in 2021. Kevin recently completed a stand-alone mystery/thriller titled Dead Winner, published in late 2022, winner of the 2023 CLUE Award (best suspense/thriller), and he is working on a stand-alone mystery titled The Other Murder. Kevin is a resident of Central New Jersey and is a graduate of Columbia College and Boston University School of Law.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for BABY X by Kira Peikoff for this Release Day Blitz.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, an about the author section, and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Description
When any biological matter can be used to create life, stolen celebrity DNA sells to the highest bidder–or the craziest stalker–in this propulsive thriller.
In the near-future United States, where advanced technology can create egg or sperm from any person’s cells, celebrities face the alarming potential of meeting biological children they never conceived. Famous singer Trace Thorne is tired of being targeted by the Vault, a black market site devoted to stealing DNA. Sick of paying ransom money for his own cell matter, he hires bio-security guard Ember Ryan to ensure his biological safety.
Ember will do anything she can to protect her clients. She knows all the Vault’s tricks–discarded tissues, used straws, lipstick tubes–and has prevented countless DNA thefts. Working for Thorne, her focus becomes split when she begins to fall for him, but she knows she hasn’t let anything slip–love or not, his DNA is safe. But then she and Thorne are confronted by a pregnant woman, Quinn, who claims that Thorne is the father of her baby, and all bets are off.
BABY X by Kira Peikoff is an engrossing speculative fiction, medical, and psychological thriller mash-up that kept me turning the pages from start to finish. This story is set around 2040 and takes future human reproduction into a terrifying new realm.
The Vault is a black-market site that steals DNA from high profile individuals to use as blackmail. If you don’t want your DNA used to create a baby with the highest bidder somewhere in the world, you must pay to stop it.
Ember Ryan knows how the Vault works and has set up a business to protect an individual’s DNA. Her first major client is the famous country singer, Trace Thome. Ember will do anything to protect Trace’s cell matter while they travel together on his tour. They both begin to care for each other and soon become a couple and engaged after the tour ends.
While they are out for coffee, they are confronted by a young pregnant woman who claims to be carrying Trace’s child. But nothing is as it seems because Ember is hiding secrets that will change everyone’s futures.
This mash-up thriller has many interesting plot points that led to me think about bioethical and moral questions at every turn: stolen DNA, designer babies, babies that are ‘Selected’ or ‘Unforeseen’, IVF on steroids. It is fascinating and frightening at the same time. The story is told in three alternating distinct storylines by three women, and you do not learn how they all come together until the surprise twist at the end and that is all I can say without giving anything away.
I recommend this mash-up thriller that will leave you thinking about the issues in this story long after you finish and the possibility of them becoming our reality.
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About the Author
Kira Peikoff is the author of Baby X, Mother Knows Best, Living Proof, No Time to Die, and Die Again Tomorrow. She has a degree in journalism from New York University and master’s in bioethics from Columbia. Her reported articles have appeared in The New York Times, Newsweek, Popular Mechanics and other outlets.
She now works in biotech communications helping spread the word about transformative developments in the life sciences. Peikoff is a proud member of The Authors Guild, International Thriller Writers, and Mystery Writers of America. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and two sons.
For software pioneer Martin Post, the third richest man in America, his private compound on the Florida coast is a sunny no-man’s-land separating his family from the rest of the world. Now, expert forensic analysts Ellie Carr and Rachael Davies of the renowned Locard Institute have been summoned to its dark side.
Martin’s pregnant daughter, Ashley, had ventured on a day trip in her motorboat into the Gulf, only to wash up dead on a nearby shore. Although the local coroner determined her death was an accident, Ellie and Rachael soon confirm Martin’s gravest fear: His daughter was murdered. Was it a kidnapping gone wrong? Or something even more brutal? Ashley and her husband, Greg, had been working working with Martin on a revolutionary new defense initiative for the US military – could espionage have played a part in her death? Martin believes Greg is behind the murder, and the spoiled charmer does set off Rachel’s deception radar. If the widower didn’t kill Ashley himself, why isn’t he more upset that she’s dead?
Drawn into the Posts’ increasingly dangerous family dynamic, Ellie and Rachael must work hard and fast to discover what secrets are buried at the heart of the crime. Because the churning waters of the Gulf are getting rougher. And soon, Ellie and Rachael themselves will be in danger of getting crushed in their depths.
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Elise’s Thoughts
The Deepest Kill by Lisa Black brings back forensic investigators Dr Ellie Carr and Dr Rachael Davies of the Locard Institute. Once again readers get a glimpse into the forensic world as Black uses her own experiences as a forensic scientist to intertwine information within the riveting plot and readers will not be disappointed.
Carr and Davies are asked by billionaire Martin Post to investigate his pregnant daughter’s death. Ashley had taken out her boat into the Florida Gulf, and just disappeared until her body washed ashore. Both scientists determine that her death was not accidental but murder. Her husband, Greg, is considered the number one suspect. But because Greg, Ashley, and Post were working on a revolutionary defense initiative for the US military, some think that foreign agents might be involved. Thus, FBI agents Michael Tyler and Luis Alvarez are brought into the investigation.
Also adding to the storyline is the coast setting and the weather that appear as a character. Not to mention that Black gives more details of Ellie’s backstory whose mother died under suspicious circumstances and her death was also ruled drowning.
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Author Interview
Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for the story?
Lisa Black: Throughout the series readers will discover more of Ellie’s history that is relevant to what is happening. This story popped into my head as I was thinking about defense contracting and the Laci Peterson case. I describe it as the Laci Peterson case if her father was Bill Gates, although I never worked on it. I did watch a documentary about it.
EC: Do you like switching off from featuring as the main character, Ellie, and Rachel?
LB: I want both in the story. It depends on what needs to be done because their expertise is in different areas. It depends on what they are investigating. If it deals with pathology and anatomy Rachel will be featured more, but if it is about fingerprints then Ellie will be featured. It depends on what is called for with the investigation.
EC: Deception, detection, and body language are mentioned. Does it play a role in forensic analysis?
LB: Not really, it was what a detective does. But a class was offered for the police officers in detection and deception. I was allowed to attend it. It was a two-day class which I found interesting. I got a lot of ideas for this story. For example, what was told about people’s feet. I put a scene in about it. People know that they should cover their faces, but a person’s feet can betray them. There must be a baseline that should be interpreted.
EC: Did the setting play a role in the story? I laughed when I read what you said about your husband and moving to Florida.
LB: I live in Florida now. I have accepted the move he wanted to make, but still would rather have stayed where I was because I loved Cleveland where my job and family are. I wanted to present how I felt when I first came here. It was a shock. I hoped to have a little fun presenting an outsider’s view of Florida. There are hurricanes, and in summer it is hotter than heck and very humid. Florida has two seasons, raining season and not raining season.
EC: What about the boat scenes?
LB: When I was a child in Lake Erie, we had a boat, so I am comfortable around boats. I love boats. This was also inspired by the Laci Peterson case because they think the husband dumped her body in the water.
EC: You put in the forensics about the water?
LB: Yes, being in the water changes a body. The way it decomposes and what happens to it after death. A body is affected greatly after being submerged. This helped me to keep the mystery going.
EC: Was the father’s dead wife presented like a hologram?
LB: No. I was basing it on smart phones, Alexa, and Siri, all the artificial types. He just gave it his wife’s name so when he asked a question he referred to her name.
EC: How would you describe Ellie?
LB: Someone who wants to fit in, committed, athletic, and does not handle change very well. She does have insomnia. Having to move around a lot as a child has made her a little insecure. Having her adjust to new living situations made her crave stability. She was always raised by aunts, uncles, and cousins.
EC: How would you describe the husband, Greg?
LB: Energetic, amiable, rich, shallow, and arrogant. Picture a spoiled frat boy. He is used to women giving him what he wants because he is cute and the rest of the world giving him what he wants because he is rich. He was born rich.
EC: What about your next book?
LB: It is titled Not Who We Expected. The plot has this aging rock star trying to make a comeback. He calls the Locard Institute because of his missing daughter and is very worried after the boyfriend turns up dead.
THANK YOU!!
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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.
Someone is killing the world’s leading experts on robotics and artificial intelligence. Is it a tech company trying to eliminate the competition or is it something even more sinister?
After all, artificial intelligence may be the deadliest battlefield gamechanger since the creation of gunpowder. The first nation to field weapons that can act at the speed of computer commands will rule the battlefield.
It’s an irresistible lure for most, but not for the Gray Man. His quest for a quiet life has led him to Central America where he and his lover, Zoya Zakharova, have assumed new identities. With a list of enemies that includes billionaires, terrorists, and governments, they need to keep a low profile, but the world’s deadliest assassin can’t expect to hide out forever.
Eventually, they’re tracked down and offered a job by an old acquaintance of Zoya’s. He needs their help extracting a Russian scientist who is on the kill list. They reject the offer, but just being seen with him is enough to put assassins on their trail.
Now, they’re back on the run, but no matter which way they turn, it’s clear that whoever’s tracking them is always going to be one step ahead. Since flight’s no longer possible, fight is the only option left, and no one fights dirtier than the Gray Man.
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Elise’s Thoughts
The Chaos Agent by Mark Greaney brings to life artificial intelligence, which takes center stage in this plot. Just as with other issues like biological weapons and cloning, Greaney talks about how AI can weaponize drones and robots.
The plot starts off quiet enough as Court and Zoya settle down together in Central America in hope of living a quiet life. But that comes to a quick end after Zoya is approached by an old contact who needs her to extract a Russian scientist from a deadly situation. To make matters worse, they are attacked by a team of professional assassins.
It seems that multibillionaire Anton Hinton is building a lethal autonomous weapon controlled by artificial intelligence. His reasoning is that he wants to bring some sanity to the world where human wars could be a thing of the past. Putting the pieces together, Court and Zoya realize that someone is killing the world’s leading experts on robotics and computers. Because he is afraid for his life, Hinton hires as his new chief of security, Court’s old teammate, Zack Hightower. Eventually, they all band together to stop this powerful AI computer, Cyrus for destroying the world.
The plot has nonstop action. The best Gray Man books are ones with the supporting cast of characters, which includes this one. Readers should take the plot as a word of warning as to what happens after AI is weaponized.
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Author Interview
Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for the story?
Mark Greaney: I was watching a lot of TV about developing artificial intelligence. Then I read a few books about AI run amok. I was looking into the dark side of AI. Robotics, AI, and lethal autonomous weapons melted together. It was fascinating for me to write about. I am always looking for something different to write about. The idea of the private sector creating something dangerous was interesting to me.
EC: What do you personally think of AI?
MG: It can be used by the military or for cures to cancer. It depends on how it is used. I am fatalistic about it, knowing it is coming whether we want it to or not. I am nervous as I write about in the book. If the enemy does it and revolutionizes the way countries fight it will become a game changer. I read a line that said, ‘If a scenario cannot be anticipated, then we cannot test it.’ AI can act in ways they are not taught.
EC: For example, Israel drops leaflets and warns the Gazans before they bomb, but I do not think AI will do it.
MG: Absolutely. AI does not have any judgement or morality. Now AI are basically large language models. Once in the real world there is no telling what might happen. They clobbered US pilots in simulators with the human pilot never getting a shot off. In the book, Cyrus, the AI agent, is aggressive. War game simulations have AI on the attack, to fight, and attack. This is also a vulnerability because it can make mistakes that will hurt it.
EC: Is it like biological weapons where all the countries say they are not pursuing them or use them?
MG: I do agree with that analogy. Some years ago, a bunch of Google employees threatened to quit because the company was working with the US military on object recognition to process drone feeds. All these employees got on their high horse and refused to work with the defense department. This killed the whole project. At the same time Google had tons of projects with Chinese firms. All of these are dual use, can be operational in the military.
EC: I was thinking of the debate over cloning to get the perfect person-are we for it or against it?
MG: Yes. In some ways it is good, to eliminate diseases, but it would also be possible to get a Master Race. This is very concerning to me. It is coming down the pike, AI, one way or another. The US did put export controls on the chips that make high level AI and China cannot acquire them. Regulations will help. Everything I read is that the sophisticated AI are prone to making mistakes.
EC: Why the Albert Einstein quote in the beginning of the book?
MG: He was talking about the nuclear age. The leaders of the AI industry, the gate keepers that told Congress, they are scared about what is behind their own gates. They asked for regulations. But they also fought against some regulations that were in England. People asked if they could do it, but no one asked if they should do it.
EC: Did you want to show that Court, as with some in the military, miss the action and adrenaline rush?
MG: A little bit of a version of it. I played it up in other books more. He sees himself as someone that should be used for good not evil. I think he feels a little bit listless when he is not doing what is right to make the world a better place. He has this moral compass with right and wrong incredibly important to him.
EC: How would you describe the relationship between Zoya and Court?
MG: They have trust issues. Sometimes they feel betrayed. Court has a vulnerability but has let his guard down for Zoya. What is programmed into him is to go into flight if he senses any kind of deception from her.
EC: Would you kill off any of your main characters?
MG: I have not written the next book yet. I honestly do not know. I can kill any of my characters at some point.
EC: Can you describe how you came about to write the two intense scenes with the autonomous robots and drones?
MG: I watched a lot of videos. Everything in this book is based on existing or emerging technology. There is no science fiction. The robot dogs with rifles on their backs exist. The drones that land on the roof is also real. The hexacopters that are remotely piloted and carry explosives we are seeing a ton of that in the Ukraine War. When building an action scene, I think of the enemy capabilities and the heroes’ capabilities.
EC: This book had a cliff-hanger so can you tell anything about the next book?
MG: I don’t look on it as a cliff-hanger. The entire story played out is resolved but in the last twenty-five pages is something new that came about. I had the idea while writing the middle of this book. There will be a wild ride in the next book.
I also have a book coming out in June titled Sentinel. It is the second book in the Josh Duffy series. This book takes place in Africa. Duffy is a diplomatic security agent. The series is sold to TV.
THANK YOU!!
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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.
