#bookdescription – Page 58 – Avonna Loves Genres

Friday Feature Author Interview #2 with Elise Cooper: A Hint of Mischief by Daryl Wood Gerber

Book Description

The proprietor of a fairy garden and tea shop in Carmel-by-the-Sea, Courtney Kelly has an occasional side gig as a sleuth–with a sprinkling of magical assistance. . . .

Courtney has thrown a few fairy garden parties–for kids. But if a local socialite is willing to dip into her trust fund for an old sorority sister’s fortieth birthday bash, Courtney will be there with bells on. To make the job even more appealing, a famous actress, Farrah Lawson, is flying in for the occasion, and there’s nothing like a celebrity cameo to raise a business’s profile.

Now Courtney has less than two weeks to paint a mural, hang up tinkling windchimes, plan party games, and conjure up all the details. While she works her magic, the hostess and her girlfriends head off for an indulgent spa day–which leads to a fateful facial for Farrah, followed by her mysterious death. Could the kindhearted eyebrow waxer who Farrah berated in public really be the killer, as the police suspect? Courtney thinks otherwise, and with the help of her imaginative sleuth fairy, sets out to dig up the truth behind this puzzling murder . . .

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Elise’s Thoughts

A Hint of Mischief by Daryl Wood Gerber is a well written cozy mystery. This is the third installment of the series. It has a murder, delightful characters, and an inviting setting that is very magical. If readers believe in fairies, instead of clapping their hands, they should read these novels. If people do not believe that fairies exist, they can read this one and let their imagination take over.

There are three mysteries to solve for the main character Courtney Kelly, the owner of the store Open Your Imagination, a gift shop in the community of Carmel-by-the-Sea, in California. She is trying to find a murderer, a thief who is robbing nearby stores, and the person leaving fairy “doors” around town.

The plot has socialite Misty Dawn recruiting a fairy garden specialist, Courtney, to host a fairy-themed 40th birthday party for her sorority sisters. When one of the sisters, Farrah Lawson turns up dead, apparently a poisoning victim, the police have questions for Twyla Waterman, who was seen in the vicinity not long before the body’s discovery, and a former cult member. Both Courtney and her fairy friend Fiona believe Twyla would not hurt a fly. Determined to prove her innocence they set out to find the real culprit along with finding the thief and the maker of the fairy doors. Since there are plenty of suspects to go around, Courtney and Fiona have their hands full.

The author throws readers a lot of curve balls to keep them guessing. Because of a wide cast of characters, both human and fairy alike, the cast of characters at the beginning of the novel is very welcome.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: Idea for the story?

Daryl Wood Gerber: At the beginning of Covid I was at a cocktail party. I spoke to someone who told me they had a Fairy party for her daughter. After seeing the pictures, I thought I must do this for adults. I came up with the idea that sorority sisters at a reunion would do it to have some fun. Then, of course one of them is murdered.

EC: How did you get the idea for the murder?

DWG: Someone known as “The Poison Lady” gives talks. She was very helpful about poisons. I only used poisoning once before in another series. The plot surrounds how did the poison get into the victim. I did a lot of research on the different poisons I could use.

EC: Is it more difficult to find fairy quotes at the beginning of each chapter?

DWG: I must have quotes over 75 to 100 years for copywriting reasons. Everything I am finding is written pre-1920. I bought some fairy poem books and googled as well. Some of the poems are twenty stanzas long so I could piece them apart to maybe get four or five quotes out of them. At some point I will start writing fairy quotes. The one at the beginning of chapter 17 is made up by me. It says, “Is a fairy a demoted angel, or is an angel a fairy reunited with its Maker?” Some of them are anonymous, which we can use as well.

EC: How would you describe fairies-are they like children?

DWG: In this book they fear noises, they tease, and they sing. They are very impish, very playful, and curious. The Fairy Queen is more like an Angel.

EC: How would you describe Farrah Lawson, the victim?

DWG: She has turned forty and is a very popular actress. She is a go-getter, pompous, full of herself, and dismissive. She likes to belittle. Farrah has a dark side, can be a diva, spiteful, and is self-centered. Farrah became the mean girl.

EC: Fairy door versus fairy rings?

DWG: A fairy door is what people put at the base of trees. I put them in a lot of my gardens. Usually, people leave messages or pieces of food for the fairies so they can come and bring good wishes. A fairy ring allows humans to step from their world to the fairy world after the portal opens.

EC: There is a large community in this series?

DWG: In any cozy mystery the population grows. Each time a book is written it cannot be about the same seven people. My basics are Courtney, Fiona the Fairy, Pixie the cat, Josh, Meaghan, Brady, and Dylan the cop. It is almost unavoidable in a cozy to have a large community. In a TV mystery there are also the basics, but there are people that do not have any names. But if it were a book those people with speaking lines must have a name. The difference between TV and a book is that in a novel the people must be anchored visually. There is a world in a cozy mystery.

EC: What about the Sherlock Holmes comment?

DWG: Fairies are very intelligent and want to learn. Josh is a big fan of reading and has Fiona reading Sherlock Holmes. In the next book Fiona will be reading a lot more Shakespeare. With each book I want Fiona to get wiser and wiser, absorbing the material in books like a sponge.

EC: Next book?

DWG: It is titled Flicker Doubt, coming out this same time next year. The plot has a theater foundation tea requesting Courtney bring fairy garden stuff. One of the artists there is killed. He is very dark, gloomy, and temperamental. Meaghan’s art gallery partner is seen as a person of interest.

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.

Friday Feature Author Interview #1 with Elise Cooper: The German Wife by Kelly Rimmer

Book Description

Berlin, Germany, 1930—When the Nazis rise to power, Sofie von Meyer Rhodes and her academic husband benefit from the military ambitions of Germany’s newly elected chancellor when Jürgen is offered a high-level position in their burgeoning rocket program. Although they fiercely oppose Hitler’s radical views, and joining his ranks is unthinkable, it soon becomes clear that if Jürgen does not accept the job, their income will be taken away. Then their children. And then their lives.

Huntsville, Alabama, 1950—Twenty years later, Jürgen is one of many German scientists pardoned and granted a position in America’s space program. For Sofie, this is a chance to leave the horrors of her past behind. But when rumors about the Rhodes family’s affiliation with the Nazi party spread among her new American neighbors, idle gossip turns to bitter rage, and the act of violence that results tears apart a family and leaves the community wondering—is it an act of vengeance or justice?

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Elise’s Thoughts

The German Wife by Kelly Rimmer has a unique perspective. It delves into forgiveness, family bonds, choices made, both good/evil, right/wrong, prejudice, and relationships during the 1930s and 1950s. The story shows the deep flaws and frailty of Germans living under Nazi rule.

The novel is inspired by the true story of Operation Paperclip: a controversial secret US intelligence program that employed former Nazi scientists after WWII and had them live together with their American counterparts.

There are alternating timelines, settings, and narrations. The story begins in Berlin during the 1930s where Sofie von Meyer Rhodes and her academic husband benefit from the military ambitions of Germany’s newly elected chancellor, Hitler. Jürgen Rhodes is offered a high-level position in their burgeoning rocket program. Although they fiercely oppose Hitler’s radical views, it soon becomes clear that if Jürgen does not accept the job, their income, their children, and their lives will be taken away.

Sofie and Jurgen beloved Jewish friend, Mayim lives with them at the beginning of the Nazi regime. But as the years pass, they know that Mayim must leave because Jews are no longer accepted. Through Mayim’s eyes readers get a glimpse into the Nazi atrocities, how many Germans were sleeper Anti-Semites who came out of the woodwork after Hitlers’ rise to power, and how the Jews try to flee to different countries to escape the prejudice, threats, and killings.

The other setting in the 1930s is El Paso Texas where the Davies family is struggling to survive on their farm. Between the depression and the terrible drought Lizzie realizes her dream of staying and becoming a farmer is no longer a reality. Her brother Henry enlists to fight the Germans during WWII and she marries Calvin, her best friend. But theirs is a marriage of convenience with no intimacy whatsoever.

Twenty years later, during the 1950s in Huntsville Alabama Jürgen is brought from Germany to America along with other German scientists to help America start their space program. This is where Operation Paperclip comes into play. Many of these scientists are Nazis, worked in the SS, and ran labor camps, yet, had their German past in Germany completely wiped and became thriving American citizens. He is eventually joined by Sophie and their two youngest children. But they must struggle with their past as many Germans are not always welcome in Huntsville. Lizzie and Sophie’s life interconnect when Calvin and Jürgen, both scientists, work together on the rocket program. Both Lizzie and her brother Henry, who suffers from PTSD after seeing the Nazi atrocities, are hostile to the Rhodes family. The story shows what happens when resentment, prejudice, rage, and acts of violence along with denial come together.

This is an emotionally complex plot that shows how hate can fester, grow, and destroy people’s lives. This thought-provoking novel delves into choices people make because of obligation, fear, force, or a willingness to turn a blind eye. It is a riveting tale of morality and how far someone will go to be able to live their lives, both figuratively and literally.

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Author’s Interview

Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for the story?

Kelly Rimmer: I live in Australia, about an hour and a half from the Parks Radio and Telescope Observatory. They had a festival in 2019 to commemorate the role the Parks played with the moon landing. They relayed communication and telemetry signals to NASA, providing coverage for when the Apollo spaceship was on the Australian side of the Earth. While I was there, I visited an exhibit about the US space program. I saw how there was a line that said how German and US scientists worked together starting in 1950 in Huntsville Alabama to help the space program. I was determined to learn how that could happen and wanted to know about Operation Paperclip.

EC: Can people learn from fiction?

KR: For me, that is fiction’s superpower. People can learn about themselves. Even though it is an escape people can learn about the world. The power is that people can learn facts and spur people’s reactions unlike other medias.

EC: How would you describe Sophie?

KR: Readers should be uncomfortable with all the choices she made. I don’t think she and her husband made good choices. She has lived quite a privileged life. She does not want to make waves even when she hears her friend Lydia speaking of her other friend Mayim in anti-Semitic terms. Over time, she does evolve.

EC: How would you describe Jurgen?

KR: He is deeply flawed. His career trajectory follows Wernher Von Braun exactly. Although the character is from my imagination, not his career. He sees his role as protecting and sheltering his family. He never resisted, sabotaged, or tried to help the laborers. I do not intend for readers to like him. Realistically, people made the choices not to speak up. He is even more extreme than Sophie in not helping others. He represented those scientists who knew that in the wrong hands, which is Hitler’s regime, that the rockets would not be used for space, but as weapons.

EC: The plight of the Jews was mentioned in this book?

KR: There was Kristallnacht, the Jews who had their whole lives destroyed, and were killed. Sophie became a bystander to one of the most atrocious events in human history. It does not start with Auschwitz, but the small acts of aggression and hatred. The Jews were blamed for WWI and the economic conditions of the times. Everything was the Jews fault long before the persecution started.

EC: What was Mayim’s role?

KR: I wanted the book to be about friendship. Her and Sophie loved and accepted one another. They adore one another. I wanted to so how ordinary citizens can become part of these acts of history by not speaking out. The bigger picture does really matter.

EC: There were three couples that represented different views: Jurgen and Sophie, Claudia and Klaus, Lydia, and Karl. Please explain.

KR: Lydia and Karl were not open about their Anti-Semitism in the early days of the Nazi regime. I put in this book quote, “The Nazis didn’t make people like Lydia and Karl anti-Semitic. They only uncovered what already existed.” They very quickly got swept up in the Nazi party agenda. Jurgen and Sophie are reasonable people who do feel guilty because they are complicit. Claudia and Klaus did take a stand refusing to join the Nazi Party. It cost them, but they had dignity. Lydia/Karl were pure Nazis, Jurgen/Sophie were reluctant Nazis, and Claudia /Karl were not Nazis.

EC: What about the role of Lizzie and Henry?

KR: I wanted to write about the intersection of a small town in America with the German families living in WWII. 2019 was the end of a three-year drought in Australia. Everything was covered in dust, wary and draining. It was hard on people mentally who feel completely powerless. When I looked at the timing of when all would meet in Huntsville, I decided to have these characters living through the Texas dust bowl. They are very devoted to their families. Lizzie has seen the War through Henry’s eyes who was a veteran.

EC: What do you want readers to get out of the book?

KR: I was told by a reviewer: “Hate is taught, and empathy is a skill.” This is exactly what the book is about. It could happen again. My characters lived day to day and did not try to see where things were headed. Small day to day choices does matter. It matters to speak up when things were wrong. It troubles me that the US rocket program achieved something amazing, going to the moon. But it was built on Jewish lives. The moon landing does not happen if there was not Mittelwerk, a German labor camp. I hope people delve into the history after reading this novel.

EC: Next book?

KR: It is about women in the British Special Operations Executive, a secretive organization. It is set in France and Britain in the early 1940s. Hopefully, it will be out next year. They did so many heroic feats.

THANK YOU!!

***

Book Tour/Feature Post: Evita and Me by Erika Rummel

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post for EVTIA AND ME by Erika Rummel on this Virtual Author Book Tour.

Below you will find a book description, an exclusive excerpt, an about the author section, the author’s social media links and a Rafflecopter giveaway. Enjoy!

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Book Description

Evita Peron’s jewels are missing. Only three people know that they are in a vault in the Swiss Alps; Evita’s corrupt and brutal brother Juan, her bodyguard Pierre, and a teenaged girl Mona, her newest protegee. What happens if two of them team up?

Like Eva herself, Mona comes from a broken family and has to make her own way. Perhaps that’s why the two women feel close. Evita is at the pinnacle of success but already in the grip of a fatal illness. We see her life through the eyes of Mona and Pierre, two people she trusts — and who betray her in the end. Or can theft and murder be justified?

A story of love, adventure, and murder.

***

Excerpt

[Juancito, Evita’s thuggish brother, shows Mona the underbelly of Buenos Aires.]

We were passing through the narrow streets of the Boca. Juancito slowed down and stopped at the back of a two-story house painted mustard yellow. The lower part of the wall was solid like a bunker. The second floor had a row of tall windows. Two of them had balconies with old-fashioned ornamental railings, the one in the middle was a Juliet balcony. The house had a look of decay and abandonment about it. The iron railings were rusty, and the wooden shutters on some of the windows had come off and were stacked against the balcony railings. We walked around to the front of the building. The entrance was lit up by a garish sign with a palm tree and a hula dancer and the word “Bar” flicking on and off. Inside, the place was dimly lit and quiet. It smelled of old carpet. A band was playing Latino music and a small dance floor, but no one was dancing. The little tables surrounding the empty oval were occupied by single girls or girls in pairs sipping drinks and playing cards, waiting – for customers, I assume…

[Mona is right. It’s a brothel, and Juanito takes her and one of the “girls” upstairs. They don’t get far.]

We heard a truck pulling into the yard. Doors slammed, a rough voice barked a command.

“A police raid!” the girl said.

“Get her out,” Juancito said pointing to me. “I’ll talk to them.”

The whore took me by the hand like a little girl, leading me down the hallway. There was a window at the end of it, overlooking the parking lot. It was the window with the Juliet balcony I’d seen earlier. Juancito’s car was below. The girl pushed up the sash of the window, wangled a leg over the sill, and dropped down to the ledge outside. She did it so smoothly that I suspected it was a practiced routine.

“Come on,” she said in a hard, impatient voice, and I climbed up and let myself down on the other side, standing next to her. She took stock of the situation. We were only a little distance from the nearest window, which had a regular, wide balcony. She climbed up on the railing, steadied herself against the wall, and jumped across to the larger balcony with the agility of a trapeze artist. She stood still for a moment, then took one of the shutters that had come off the French doors and were leaning against the wall. She shoved it across to the Juliette balcony where I was standing, making a narrow bridge between the railings.

She whispered another “Come on”, and I tried not to think, not to be afraid of falling, as I climbed up on the plank spanning the two balconies. I didn’t look down, I shimmied across on my hands and knees. I could feel my nylons snagging on the slats and ripping. The girl reached for me and pulled, making me land hard on the other side and scraping my knee. We could hear another commando shout and the voices of people coming out of the bar, but we couldn’t see anything. It was all happening around the corner, on the front side of the building.

The whore forced open the balcony door. We passed through a shadowy room, stepped into the corridor, and sneaked down the stairs to a backdoor opening up into an alley. I breathed relief until I saw that the alley dead-ended on one side, barred by a chain-link fence. We could have climbed it, but it was lit up by a streetlight. Too risky, the whore said. They’ll spot us. We couldn’t sneak out on the side that wasn’t gated because that’s where the cops were. We’d run directly into their arms. So we sat on the ground with our backs pressed against the wall, knees drawn up tight to stay in the shadow of the eaves as much as possible. The alley was strewn with broken crates, rags, bottles, and the rotting remains of food. Directly under the streetlamp, in the cone of light on the ground was a seething mass of flying and crawling insects, the largest beetles I had ever seen. We heard more shouting and commotion around the corner. A cop appeared at the mouth of the alley and shone a flashlight our way. The jig was up. He pointed his gun at us.

“What have we got here?” he said, closing in and looming over us.

After that, everything happened too fast for my understanding. I saw the flash of a knife, I heard him scream. A slit opened up along his thigh. He staggered back and dropped to his knees, cursing, as we scrambled up, ran to the other end of the alley and clambered over the fence. We dropped down on the other side and ran out to the parking lot. Juancito’s car was close by.

“Get down,” the girl said, and we slid under the car on our bellies and stayed there, lying very still.

The guy she slashed had probably gone for reinforcement. We heard the cops coming out of the bar, rough voices, boots hitting the pavement. From our vantage point we couldn’t see the men. Someone approached the car. He stopped right beside it, and I recognized Juancito’s polished shoes.

A few moments later, a pair of scuffed boots appeared beside Juancito’s shoes.

“I don’t carry much cash,” Juancito said to the man in boots. “I’ll get something to you tomorrow morning.”

“I don’t take bribes,” the man said.

“Of course you don’t take bribes, che, I know that,” Juanito said pleasantly. I didn’t know he could sound that way, as if he was really nice and considerate. “But one of your men has been stabbed. He deserves compensation. I’ll get the money to you.”

A charged silence hung in the air. Nothing further was said, but there was no need for words. They understood each other.

The heels of Solara’s boots clicked together in a salute.

***

About Erika Rummel

Award winning author, Erika Rummel is the author of more than a dozen non-fiction books and seven novels. Her seventh novel, ‘Evita and Me’ is being published on May 24, 2022.

She won the Random House Creative Writing Award (2011) for a chapter from ‘The Effects of Isolation on the Brain’ and The Colorado Independent Publishers’ Association’ Award for Best Historical Novel, in 2018. She is the recipient of a Getty Fellowship and the Killam Award.

Erika grew up in Vienna, emigrated to Canada and obtained a PhD from the University of Toronto. She taught at Wilfrid Laurier and U of Toronto. She divides her time between Toronto and Los Angeles and has lived in Argentina, Romania, and Bulgaria.

Social Media Links

Erika’s Website: http://www.erikarummel.com/
Erika’s Blog: http://rummelsincrediblestories.blogspot.ca/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/historycracks

Purchase Links

Amazon
DX Varos Publishing

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RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY

This giveaway is for 2 print copies and is open to Canada and the U.S. only. This giveaway ends on July 23, 2022 midnight, pacific time. Entries accepted via Rafflecopter only.

https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/classic/19dbbbb/main.html

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Bright, Broken Things by Linda Shantz

Book Description

Welcome to Triple Stripe Stables, a farm in the heart of Canadian Thoroughbred horse country…
He’s racing cross-country, looking for a safe place to land.

She’s dreading a future that was never her choice.

They both want the same thing: to leave the past behind.

September means school, but this year, Nate’s not going back. He’s heading east, and while everyone at home thinks he’s pursuing a career as a jockey, he’s really just running away.

After always being a student, he lands a job as a teacher — of young Thoroughbreds, starting yearlings on a small but classy farm in Ontario. It’s the perfect place to hide, until a jockey’s agent comes along promising to give him everything he thought he ever wanted. How can he say no to a fast track to the career of his dreams? But can he go back on his commitment to the farm that gave him a break when his world had fallen apart?

Liv likes the new guy she hired to start the babies, but she kind of hates him too. He’s doing what she wants to do herself — dropping out to chase a future on the front lines of horse racing. She wishes she could be content, accepting the path vet school has firmly set her on. But a filly named Claire has captured her heart and ignited her real passion: riding racehorses. Does everyone get to follow their heart?

Meanwhile, a cherished mare on the farm carries a foal that will change both their lives and remind them… good things come to those who wait.

***

Elise’s Thoughts

Bright, Broken Things by Linda Shantz is a very enjoyable read. As with all her stories, this novella will allow readers to understand more about horses and racing along with very relatable characters.

The story includes the backstory on how Nate and Liv meet. She decides to hire him to help train the horses. Although there is an attraction at first sight, Nate realizes that Liv is hands off. What they do have in common is the love of horses and racing. Along with her sister Emilie who is the direct opposite of Liv, and a filly named Claire that stole Liv’s heart, readers get more of an understanding of the personalities of each character.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: Why write this novella?

Linda Shantz: After the books I had readers who requested a prequel. This will lead those who have not read any books into the series, the backstory of Liv and Nick. I am thinking of writing the backstory on some of the other characters.

EC: You have this quote by Liv about her feelings?

LS: You are referring to this one, “The safest place is on the back of a racehorse. It is sanctuary.” Take for example what happened to me. I hurt my ankle. So being on the ground is hard, while being on a horse allows me to borrow their body. Horses provide for Liv the safety where no one can touch her.

EC: How would you describe Claire, the young thoroughbred?

LS: Flighty and excitable. She has a good head on her shoulders. Nothing ruffles her. She is ready to take on the world. A solid buddy who is a horse.

EC: What about the sisters Liv versus Emilie?

LS: Even though there is a physical resemblance they are quite opposite. Emilie does not have the competitive drive that Liv has for riding. Emilie is much more balanced. She is not obsessed with horse racing like Liv. She does not have the same need to be immersed in the whole horse racing world that Liv does. While Liv is standoffish, serious, with trust issues, seeing the glass as half empty, broken, and aloof; Emilie is mischievous, carefree, talkative, and easy going.

EC: What did you want to point out about horses being drugged?

LS: There are people who put money above horses. Racing gets a bad rap because of the drugging of horses. The vets play a big role. I point out in the book the vets are essentially working for the trainers who know what drugs are available and do things under the radar. Sometimes people have an unfair advantage because testing has not caught up with finding the drugs. Unfortunately, the vet received a very light sentence. Up here in Canada it is taken very seriously.

EC: Why is it so bad?

LS: There is not one governing body in horse racing. Each state gets to make their own decision on horse racing and drug testing. If the US adopted a single governing body, I am sure Ontario, and the other Canadian tracks would be a part of it.

EC: Next book?

LS: I am going to write the Emilie and Tim book next, probably out around Christmas. In that book Liv is going to go to England for a big race so there will be a lot of Nate, but not her.

EC: Are you still painting?

LS: Yes, I have some commissions of horses and dogs.

THANK YOU!!

***

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Armored by Mark Greaney

Book Description

Joshua Duffy is a Close Protection Agent – a professional bodyguard, and he’s one of the world’s elite operatives. That is he was until his last mission in Lebanon. Against all odds, Josh got his primary out alive, but the cost was high. Josh lost his lower left leg.

There’s not much call for an elite bodyguard with such an injury. So, Josh has to support his family working as a mall cop in Jersey. For a man like Josh this is purgatory on earth, but even in Paramus miracles occur.

A lucky run in with an old comrade promises to get Josh back in the field for one last job. The UN is sending a peace mission into the Sierra Madre Mountains in Mexico, an area so dangerous it’s known as Espinazo del Diablo (The Devil’s Spine). Only a fool would think they could broker peace between the homicidal drug cartels in the region and only a madman would sign on to keep those fools alive.

***

Elise’s Thoughts

Armored by Mark Greaney shows why he is currently one of the best thriller writers. Although written first as an Audible Original, the book is much more enjoyable. Once again Greaney does not disappoint. There is plenty of action, but also some important issues covered including those still able to serve after losing a limb as well as how contractor companies treat their employees.

Best known for his “Gray Man series,” there were times in the story that readers wished for Court Gentry to come out and help the main character, Joshua “Duff” Duffy. But the badass in the novel was not Gentry, but Duffy’s wife Nichole, a former helicopter pilot.

Duffy, a former military Infantry soldier who became a private military contractor, shows his tenacity after losing part of his leg. Down on his luck and struggling to financially support his family, Duffy has an old comrade set up an interview with the contracting company, Armored Saints, that has a checkered reputation. He is hired as part of a private protection squad to guard a team of UN representatives. They are going to meet with warring drug lords deep into cartel country in Mexico, hoping to negotiate a peace between them. It soon becomes obvious that Duffy and his teammates must deal with hidden agendas, double crosses, and warfare.

Not only are the guys front and center but so are the women. Dr. Gabrielle Flores, a regional analyst for the area of Sierra Madres, in Mexico, informs Duffy’s team how dangerous the area is. She is also very valuable in helping them escape, knowing the area, the cartels, and the locals. The other woman in the story is Duffy’s wife Nichole who goes on a fact-finding mission to save her husband and refuses to take “no” as an answer.

This military thriller will leave readers on the edge of their seats. The plot will remind readers of “The Dirty Dozen.” The novel has everything Greaney is known for including intense action, great dialogue, and team of heroes that are very likeable, while enemies that are very unlikeable. This is a book that should not be put down, but unfortunately, people will have to wait for book 2 to come out.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: Can you tell us something about the “The Gray Man” movie on Netflix?

Mark Greaney: It stars Ryan Gosling as The Gray Man, Court Gentry, and will be released on July 22. I read the script when they started filming. I have also seen it and really liked it. They did change some things. With so many people involved in making the movie, there is always creative influences. Characters who were not in the first book but did come along later in the book series are introduced in the movie. It is true to the spirit of the longer story of the first book. The dialogue was clever for the story.

EC: How did you get the idea for Armored, your latest book and will it be a series?

MG: Yes, it will be a series. The idea came about when I was training in a school with firearms. This school trained a lot of civilian contractors. There, I took a lot of classes that were designed for executive protection. It had a lot of running and gunning with team tactics. I thought in 2009 about writing a story about these contractors. First it was an audio play, and now the novel has come out.

EC: You put a different take on contracting firms?

MG: Some are not loyal or supportive to their employees. The one I created in this book, Armored Saint, is corrupt and dirty. Overall, the contractors themselves are awesome. Some of these companies have a reputation, which I wanted to dance around a bit. In the 2000s it was the heyday for these companies and now things have dried up.

EC: How did you come up with the scene where Duffy saved the wife?

MG: Duffy had a mission that went wrong but did his job. I decided to do it in Beirut because there was an assassination of a presidential candidate fifteen years ago. With that in the back of my mind I orchestrated the different roads and tactics. I did not go over there but mapped it out.

EC: How would you describe Duffy?

MG: Very much a blue-collar worker. Not at all like The Gray Man, not a secret spy, a Superhero, or Special Forces. But he was not a mercenary because he seeks justice. In the beginning of the story, he is not a leader, but a helper. When he lost his limb, he was depressed at the inability to financially support his family. But as a strong family man he was responsible and caring. He has the desire and guts to get back out there even with the loss of a limb. Very courageous.

EC: How would you describe Nichole, Duffy’s wife?

MG: She was a Captain in the Army, flying helicopters. I wanted to write her as an alpha female. She is very assertive, someone who takes charge. She is the opposite of Duffy who is very easy going. I think she wants to go back to the world where she was a leader, her natural habitat. Overall, she is straight forward, no nonsense, and detailed.

EC: The Cartels are like the Mafia?

MG: I wrote a Gray Man book, Ballistic, where Court faced off with the Cartels. I found out through the research how much torture and violence there is. I could not put that in the books. It is a civil war in Mexico, the Mexican Marines versus the Cartels who are brutal to the townspeople. There are rivalries between the different Cartels and actual maps show what territory is held by which Cartel.

EC: What role did Dr. Gabrielle (Gabby) Flores play?

MG: I spent some time in the Archeological Museum in Mexico City where Gabby works. As I was writing the story, I realized that many of the contractors were American, French, British, and in a world they did not understand. Gabby became the character, the heart and soul of the story, that allowed me through her, to tell the story of the setting and the hardships the people face. She preached to the contractors the danger in the area and how desperate the people living there are.

EC: How would you describe Dr. Gabrielle (Gabby) Flores versus UN representative Michelle La Rue?

I contrasted Gabby with Michelle La Rue. Gabby is a realist, caring, honest, and direct. La Rue is a UN bureaucrat who overestimates her abilities and influence. She is an allegory for the UN going into places and doing things, trying to be peacekeepers. Through La Rue I was able to put in my own personal bias. La Rue has a naiveté and a jadedness at the same time, especially when she wanted the contractors to disarm in a very dangerous setting.

EC: Next books?

MG: I have written two books a year since 2009, the “Clancy series,” “Red Metal,” of course “The Gray Man,” and now this series “Armored,” where I will probably start to write the next book in August. Armored has been optioned by Sony with Michael Bay producing it. The second Armored book will have a strong dynamic between Duffy and Nichole, co-leads.

The next Gray Man book is titled Murder, the twelfth in the series, out in February next year. Zoya will be back with Zack probably in the latter part of the book.

Red Metal II written with Lt. Col. Hunter Ripley Rawlings will be out before the next Armored book.

THANK YOU!!

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Feature Post and Book Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Book Description

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas follows the life of a 19-year-old huntress, Feyre Acheron, who was brought into an unfamiliar magical realm after killing a faerie in the forest. Upon entering the world of the faeries, she was forced to adapt and live in a world where humans don’t belong. As Feyre becomes more involved with the people around her, she becomes aware of the looming catastrophe she must face to save everyone.

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Book Review

From the description alone, most people, like writer Anjitha M, will say that it’s a simple retelling of the classic Disney movie Beauty and the Beast. However, despite the obvious reference to the Disney classic, Maas was able to craft something different on her own that makes the book unique from the movie.

A Court of Thorns and Roses is the first book in the series of the same name. The author’s strong worldbuilding immerses readers in a setting that offers both excitement and uncertainty as we, the readers, set foot in the world of Fae through the eyes of Feyre. In A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR to its legions of fans), we get to meet various characters who all have different backgrounds and perspectives, and we get to journey with a female protagonist who can stand on her own and shoot arrows with her bow.

The story starts with Feyre’s life-changing encounter with a faerie in the woods, which obliged her to leave her family in the human world for a place she had only heard of in stories. Even though Feyre is human, the story revolves around her journey as she interacts and connects with the fantastical creatures of the Fae. As readers, we get to acquaint ourselves and learn about the world’s culture along with her. Feyre’s determination to remain strong despite being thrown in an unfamiliar place with no allies is something worth admiring about her.

Although the first part was a bit slow-paced, the latter half brings so much action and drama. It makes it impossible to not pick up the second book and read what happens next. Reading ACOTAR on its own isn’t enough to fully understand and appreciate the world that the author has created for us. If you plan to read the following book, A Court of Mist and Fury, you can expect more gripping drama, intense romance, and exceptional worldbuilding from Sarah J. Maas.

ACOTAR is a page-turner if high fantasy, adventure, and romance suit your preferences. Once you finish you will want to check out the entire series since the beginning only gives you a glimpse of what’s to come.

Now may just be the best time to read it too as Deadline announced that producers plan to release an ACOTAR TV adaptation on premium cable and streaming networks. If you want to delve into the world of the Fae with vibrant visuals, you can check out the TV adaptation soon. However, if you’re interested in more action-packed adventures and romance books than fantasy, you should add Guild Boss by Jayne Castle to your to-read list. Accompanied by Lucy and Gabriel, you can discover the lawlessness of Illusion Town.

You can check out other Spoiler Free Genre Books Reviews to find a book to love as much as A Court of Thorns and Roses.