Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for CODE RED (A Mitch Rapp Novel Book #22) by Kyle Mills. This is the last book that Kyle Mills will be authoring in this series started by Vince Flynn, but the series is continuing.
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
Mitch Rapp hates owing anyone a favor—especially when it’s the world’s most powerful crime lord. But when Damian Losa calls, Mitch is honor-bound to answer.
The Syrian government appears to have created a highly addictive new narcotic that it plans to distribute throughout Europe. It’s a major threat to Losa’s business and he’s determined to send someone to keep him on top by any means necessary.
Rapp is the perfect choice for the mission. Not only does he have extensive experience operating in the Middle East, but he’s also entirely expendable.
As he crosses into war-torn Syria, Rapp quickly discovers a shocking truth. The new drug isn’t being produced by Damascus to prop up the government’s collapsing finances. Instead, it was created by Russia’s asymmetrical warfare unit, not for profit but as a weapon against the West.
With far more than Damian Losa’s interests at stake, Rapp devises a desperate plan that forces him and his team onto a battlefield where the United States is virtually powerless and allegiances shift almost hourly. Further, if Russia uncovers their plot, it will set off a confrontation between the two countries that could change the course of human history.
CODE RED (A Mitch Rapp Novel Book #22) by Vince Flynn/Kyle Mills is another exciting addition to this political/terrorism thriller series. This is Mr. Mills last book in this long-standing series, but the series is continuing with another author. While this book begins with the repayment of an obligation from a previous book and the main characters continue to evolve, it is still easily read as a standalone thriller. I am privileged to be a chosen Ambassador to this series.
Mitch Rapp owes a favor to one of the world’s most powerful drug lords, Damian Losa, for the help that only he could provide in locating a threat to Mitch’s family. Losa is calling in his marker and sends Mitch undercover into Syria, but things do not go as planned. When Mitch is double crossed, he considered his debt paid and he goes after a Russian developing a designer drug that could easily destroy Western civilization as we know it.
Off the official books, Mitch and his team come together in Syria to take down this latest threat before Russia uncovers their plan and it turns into a major international incident.
I really love this series, but not this one until about a quarter of the way into the plot. I found Losa using Mitch the way he did just not what I expected, and it just did not fit the Mitch persona, so I did not really buy it and it dragged. The plot with the Russians making a new drug that could destroy Western society is when it grabbed my interest and the action took off with what I have come to expect in a Mitch Rapp book and that made it a good addition to the series for me. The book satisfied me by the end when Mitch and his team do what they do and made up for the slower beginning. I love this series for the intriguing political/terrorism plots that are not out of the headlines, but almost seem like the author can see into the horrors of the future. While I do not feel this is the best Mitch Rapp in the series, it is still an action roller-coaster thrill ride to the end.
I have loved this series since book one when Vince Flynn started it, and Kyle Mills has been an excellent choice to continue it and hopefully it will continue to be one of my favorite action thriller series as the author changes once again. Thank you for your stewardship, Mr. Mills.
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About the Author
Kyle Mills is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty-two political thrillers, including Enemy at the Gates, Total Power, and Lethal Agent for Vince Flynn and The Patriot Attack for Robert Ludlum. He initially found inspiration from his father, an FBI agent and former Interpol director, and still draws on his contacts in the intelligence community to give his books such realism. Avid outdoor athletes and travelers, he and his wife split their time between Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and Granada, Spain.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for A WHITE HOT PLAN by Mike & Ayan Rubin on this Coffee and Thorn Book Tour.
Below you will find an about the book section, my book review, an about the authors section, and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!
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About the Book
A group of alt-right terrorists decides that now is the time–and New Orleans is the place–to make an explosive statement that will force the world to acknowledge the superiority of the white supremacist movement.
Disgraced former New Orleans homicide detective Starner Gautreaux is now a poorly paid sheriff’s deputy relegated to writing his weekly quota of speeding tickets in a sleepy south Louisiana parish. His mundane life is all-too-predictable until several unusual events cause him to suspect something is seriously amiss. While the local coroner classifies the resulting deaths as accidental, Starner’s prior experience leads him to believe that not only are they homicides, but also that they signal something far more sinister.
Taut action bubbles up from the swamps of Louisiana to the hidden haunts of underworld bosses, from small-town life to urban grit, and from a high-speed highway shootout to a terrifying confrontation in the heart of the French Quarter. White supremacists seek to impose their will on a city swamped with carefree tourists, but Starner Gautreaux is determined not to let that happen.
Age range: This is an adult book but could be suitable for mature older teenagers
Trigger warnings: violent deaths; terrorism; white supremacist racism; children in peril
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My Book Review
RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars
A WHITE HOT PLAN by Mike & Ayan Rubin is an intricately plotted, gripping thriller featuring a disgraced former NOPD homicide detective now just going through the motions as a rural sheriff’s deputy in his hometown South Louisiana parish. This is a standalone thriller that does leave an opening in the final chapter for the possibility of more books featuring this protagonist in the future and I am hoping that does happen.
Sheriff’s Deputy Starner Gautreaux is leading a predictably mundane life in his hometown until people begin to disappear and others are found dead. While the coroner calls them natural deaths, Starner’s experience has him believing otherwise. Starner refuses to ignore what is happening, but he will have to move quickly to stop a plot that could destroy the French Quarter during a festival.
This is a timely plot with the rise of domestic terrorism and white supremist groups currently in the news. Starner has grown up in this racially charged area, but treats all equally, but is not blind to the racism all around him. He has had a horrific life since Katrina and yet he still has a sense of justice that he cannot let go. The parish comes to life with the author’s descriptive writing of the bayou, the small town, the corrupt sheriff, and the fanatical delusions and cruelty of the white power group. The plot is fast paced and captivating as readers get to follow not only Starner’s point of view, but also all the members of the racist group. The short chapters moved the plot quickly and made me not want to stop reading until the end.
I highly recommend this engrossing crime thriller and I hope P.I. Starner Gautreaux will be back in more new books.
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About the Authors
Mike and Ayan Rubin are a husband and wife writing team.
Their debut novel, THE COTTONCREST CURSE, is a historical thriller published by the award-winning LSU Press. Its story line takes place from the 1860’s through the 1960’s and follows the exploits and travails of several generations of five families who own, work, or reside near the eponymous South Louisiana plantation. THE COTTONCREST CURSE garnered the Book of the Year Gold Award at an annual meeting of the American Library Association where it was named the top thriller/suspense novel published by a university or independent press. A German edition has been published by Suhrkamp and is for sale in Europe.
Their second novel, a contemporary legal thriller entitled CASHED OUT, is now in its second edition. It won the coveted Jack Eadon award as the Best Contemporary Drama and was shortlisted for the Silver Falchion Award as the best thriller. Combining page-turning action with a distinct sense of southern locale, the Providence Journal raved that it features “a lawyer down and out enough to make John Grisham proud. He’s culled from the likes of Michael Connelly by way of James Lee Burke. A gem of a tale.”
A WHITE HOT PLAN is their third novel.
A nationally known legal ethicist, public speaker and humorist, as well as a full time appellate attorney, Mike has had a varied career. He has been a professional jazz pianist in the New Orleans French Quarter, a radio and television announcer, and an adjunct law professor. He won the Burton Award for Outstanding Writing given at the Library of Congress and is a member of the Author’s Guild, the International Thriller Writers, the Mystery Writers of America, and the International Association of Crime Writers.
Ayan has had an equally varied career, having been a classroom teacher, an education administrator, a prolific grant writer, a developmental book editor, a nonprofit consultant, and, for almost three decades, the Coordinator of the Educational Services Division of Louisiana Public Broadcasting, a statewide television network, where she was responsible for initiating and then shepherding a wide variety of video projects from concept through script development and production to statewide and national broadcast.
Mike’s breadth of knowledge about the intricacies of the law and his penchant for devising dramatic situations, combined with Ayan’s unique ability to visualize and bring characters and scenes to life, make for taut tales with unrelenting twists and turns.
Because Mike’s full time legal career and numerous speaking engagements keep them hopping, they write early in the morning or late in the evening, often discussing plot lines and character development during their daily 4:30 a.m. power walks. They are just as apt to draft and revise chapters while sitting in airports or hotel rooms as they are to do so in their adjoining home offices.
Together, Mike and Ayan Rubin have developed a unique literary voice that has captivated devotees of their page-turning thrillers. A WHITE HOT PLAN is their third novel..
The protagonists and primary characters in each of their contemporary novels are descendants of the protagonists and primary characters in THE COTTONCREST CURSE, and the intoxicating action in all of their fiction plays out amidst the backwoods, bayous, big cities, and body politic of their beguiling home state of Louisiana.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for MURDER AT MIDNIGHT (Lilly Adler Mystery Book #4) by Katharine Schellman 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 Kingsumo giveaway. Enjoy!
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Book Description
When a body is found shot to death after an unexpected snowstorm, Lily Adler quickly realizes that some people will stop at nothing to bury their secrets.
Regency widow Lily Adler is looking forward to a quiet Christmastide away from the schemes and secrets she witnessed daily in London. Not only will she be visiting the family of her late husband; she will be reunited with Captain Jack Hartley, her friend and confidante, finally returned after a long voyage at sea.
But secrets aren’t only found in London. Jack’s younger sister, Amelia, is the center of neighborhood scandal and gossip. She refuses to tell anyone what really happened, even when an unexpected snowstorm strands the neighborhood families together after a Christmas ball. Stuck until the snow stops, the Adlers, Hartleys, and their neighbors settle in for the night, only to be awakened in the morning by the scream of a maid who has just discovered a dead body.
The victim was the well-to-do son of a local gentleman–the same man whose name has become so scandalously linked to Amelia’s.
With the snow still falling and no way to come or go, it’s clear that someone in the house was responsible for the young man’s death. When suspicion instantly falls on Jack’s sister, he and Lily must unmask the true culprit before Amelia is convicted of a crime she didn’t commit.
Genre: Historical mystery Published by: Crooked Lane Books Publication Date: September 2023 Number of Pages: 320 ISBN: 9781639104321 (ISBN10: 1639104321) Series: A Lily Adler Mystery, 4
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My Book Review
RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars
MURDER AT MIDNIGHT (Lily Adler Mystery Book #4) by Katharine Schellman is another delightfully engaging addition to the Lily Adler Mystery series. This Regency historical mystery series features an independent young widow amateur sleuth who is once again called upon to assist in solving a murder. All the books in this series can easily be read as standalone mysteries.
Lily Adler is happy to be in Hertfordshire for the holiday season visiting with her late husband’s family. When they attend a country ball, Lily is happy to see her friend Captain Jack Hartley and his younger sister Amelia, but there is an undercurrent of side looks and gossip surrounding Amelia and a handsome gentleman also at the ball. She refuses to confide in her family, and hopes everything will blow over, until the gentleman in question is found dead in the snow outside the rear door shot in the head.
With the guests trapped by a snowstorm, Lily offers to help her magistrate brother-in-law investigate the murder. She believes in Amelia’s innocence, but she also knows she is hiding secrets and she is not the only one. Will Lily be able to discover the murderer from among the stranded group of guests, or will she find herself buried deep in the snow?
I really enjoy the independent Lily, her interesting personal life since coming out of mourning, and her inquisitive nature that is irrepressible. All the secondary characters are fully developed. The mysteries are paced perfectly between the discovery of the crime and the always exciting climax as well as being full of twists and red herrings that keep me guessing. The research is evident in the description of clothes and the depiction of etiquette and mores. I look forward to each new book in this series.
I highly recommend this captivating Regency historical mystery and all the previous books in this series.
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Excerpt
Lily sat bolt upright. Where had the sound come from? It hadn’t been loud . . . another part of the house? For a moment, in the pressing silence, she wondered if she had drifted back to sleep without realizing it and imagined the whole thing.
But a moment later, the sounds of a commotion rose just outside her window. Lily dashed to the window, throwing it open with some effort and peering out into the swirl of snow and early- morning light.
The guest room she had been given was one of the smaller ones—the better to quickly heat rooms that hadn’t been prepared in advance—and as was typical for such rooms, it lacked a pretty view. Hers looked over what she realized after a moment must be the poultry yard. Darkly clad figures who she could guess were servants stumbled through the thick layer of snow that had fallen, trying to reach the two people in the middle of the yard.
One Lily could see from her vantage only as a still, upright figure, hand outstretched and pointing toward the second person, who lay sprawled on the ground. The one on the ground was half covered by the ice and snow, unmoving.
Lily grabbed the dressing gown from the chair, pulled on her shoes, and ran from the room. In the hallway, a few guests were poking their heads out of their doors, hair tousled and faces creased with sleep, inquiring grumpily if anyone had heard an odd noise.
Lily didn’t stop to consider propriety or worry about what anyone else might think before she yelled “Jack!” as loudly as she could. She didn’t know which room he had been given, but a moment later, a door past the stairs was flung open and the navy captain’s head appeared.
“What is it?” he demanded. He was already dressed and wearing his driving coat over his clothing. That was odd at such an early hour, but Lily didn’t have time to be surprised.
“Downstairs.” In spite of the months they had spent apart, Lily knew she could depend on him to understand and act quickly. “Something happened. We have to help.”
And in spite of those months apart, he didn’t stop to ask questions. More guests were emerging, summoned by Lily’s shout, and questions were beginning to fly back and forth as she dashed down the stairs, Jack on her heels.
They didn’t need to wonder where to go; on the floor below, Mrs. Grantham was following a stately-looking woman who might have been the housekeeper or another upper servant. Their pace was just barely too dignified to be a run, but they couldn’t hide their worry as they disappeared down the steps to the kitchen. Lily and Jack hurried after them.
The servants’ staircase was narrow and cold. At the bottom, servants clustered in the kitchen, talking in shrill, anxious voices as the cook tried to keep some order. The underservants glanced uneasily at Lily and Jack as they came into the kitchen, but no one seemed to know what to do or say. The door to the yard had been left wide open, and the wind blew in gusts of snow and icy morning light. Outside, more servants were gathered, though they parted like a wave as the housekeeper led Mrs. Grantham out to see what had happened.
As Lily and Jack tried to follow, they were stopped by the frail but determined body of the butler, who interposed himself between them and the open door. “Madam, sir, perhaps you would care to return to your rooms? Breakfast will be ready shortly.”
Jack drew himself up, clearly prepared to use his rank to push his way past the aging servant. Before he could say anything, though, and before Lily could think how to reply, Mrs. Grantham turned sharply.
“What is . . .” She trailed off, eyeing Lily and Jack with trepidation. She looked ready to send them on their way with some commonplace assurance. But half a dozen emotions chased their way across her face in that moment, and she instead asked, “Mrs. Adler, how many of the rumors about you are true?”
“That depends on the rumors,” Lily replied calmly, though her heart was pounding. Behind Mrs. Grantham, she could see the limbs of the eerie, still figure sticking out of the snowbank. “Though if you refer only to the ones that are most relevant at this moment . . .” She turned her gaze pointedly toward the body in the snow. “There is indeed some truth to them.”
Mrs. Grantham hesitated, then seemed to make up her mind in a rush. She stepped aside, pulling the confused housekeeper with her. There were boots for the servants lined up next to the door, crusted with mud from repeated use. Lily pulled off her delicate evening slippers, slid her bare feet into the pair that looked closest to her size, and followed as she and Jack were ushered into the yard, their eyes fixed on what awaited them there.
A man dressed in borrowed clothes, his skin white with cold, his hair thick with clumps of ice and snow. He could have fallen, hit his head, been caught in the storm and frozen. He could still be alive, in need of help. He could have had an innocent reason for being out in the storm.
He could have. But this close, Lily could see the snow that had been kicked aside and trampled by half a dozen feet in the servants’ frantic attempts to clear it away. The icy powder was too thick on the ground for her to see the mud of the yard. But it was still stained with red and brown from where the man’s life had leaked away in the night.
The once-snowy linen of his shirt was stained the same color, jagged and torn from the bullet that had ended his life. The gun that had fired it had been unearthed beside him, as snow-logged as his own body. The man’s frozen eyes and mouth were wide open, as though he had not believed until the last moment that whoever had faced him in that yard could be capable of the shot that had ended his life.
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Author Bio
Katharine Schellman is a former actor and one-time political consultant. These days, she writes the Lily Adler Mysteries and the Nightingale Mysteries. Her books, which reviewers have praised as “worthy of Agatha Christie or Rex Stout” (Library Journal, starred review), have received multiple accolades, including being named a Library Journal Best Crime Fiction of 2022, a Suspense Magazine Best Book of 2020, and a New York Times editor’s pick in June 2022. Katharine lives and writes in the mountains of Virginia in the company of her husband, children, and the many houseplants she keeps accidentally murdering.
A KILLER’S GAME (Daniela Vega Book #1) by Isabella Maldonado is a gripping crime thriller that takes off like a rocket and never stops. This is the start of a new series featuring a Hispanic female FBI agent with a unique background in the U.S. Army Special Forces. This is an author introduced to me by Amazon’s First To Read program and I am looking forward to reading more of her books.
FBI Agent Daniela “Dani” Vega witnesses a murder right in front of her on the streets of Manhattan. When the killer is caught, it is learned he is only a part of a group of killers used in a conspiracy to enrich a powerful Senator. The only way to infiltrate this group is for Dani to team up with the murderer, Gustavo Toro, and while she successfully infiltrates the group, this new mission is a trap for them all set up by a brilliant game maker set on revenge.
In an underground converted missile silo rehabbed as a labyrinth, Dani and Toro and the other assassins must now fight each other with only one allowed to survive and leave. In this game everything is real, and the logic puzzles are lethal. Can Dani survive Nemesis’ ultimate revenge?
This is one of those thrillers that pull you in and then you cannot put it down. Dani is a strong, intelligent, competent, and yet vulnerable main character. All the secondary characters were believable, from her siblings to her FBI colleagues and all the antagonists as they are fleshed out, they never slowed the pace of the story. The plot, especially once all the assassins are in the maze, kept me on the edge of my seat and I was trying to solve the puzzles right along with Dani. This is not the usual FBI investigative procedural.
I am anxiously looking forward to more books in this series to see what Dani gets herself into next.
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About the Author
Wall Street Journal bestselling author Isabella Maldonado wore a gun and badge in real life before turning to crime writing. A graduate of the FBI National Academy in Quantico and the first Latina to attain the rank of captain in the Fairfax County Police Department just outside DC, she retired as the Commander of Special Investigations and Forensics. During more than two decades on the force, her assignments included hostage negotiator, department spokesperson, and precinct commander. She uses her law enforcement background to bring a realistic edge to her writing, which includes the bestselling FBI Special Agent Nina Guerrera series (soon to be a Netflix feature film starring Jennifer Lopez), the award-winning Detective Veranda Cruz series, and the Agent Daniela “Dani” Vega series. Her books have been translated into 22 languages.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for AN UNSUITABLE HEIRESS by Jane Dunn on this Austen Prose Virtual Book Tour.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, and the author’s bio and social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Description
Following the death of her mother, Corinna Ormesby has lived a quiet life in the countryside with her cantankerous Cousin Agnes. Her father’s identity has been a tantalizing mystery, but now at nineteen Corinna knows that finding him may be her only way to avoid marriage to the odious Mr. Beech.
Deciding to head to London, Corinna dons a male disguise. Travelling alone as a young woman risks scandal and danger, but when, masquerading as a youth, she is befriended by three dashing blades, handsome and capable Alick Wolfe, dandy Ferdinand Shilton and the incorrigible Lord Purfoy, Corinna now has access to the male-only world of Regency England. And when she meets Alick’s turbulent brother Darius, a betrayal of trust leads to deadly combat which only one of the brothers may survive.
From gambling in gentleman’s clubs to meeting the courtesans of Covent Garden, Corinna’s country naivety soon falls away. But when she finds her father at last, learns the truth about her parentage and discovers her fortunes transformed, she must quickly decide how to reveal her true identity, while hoping that one young man in particular can see her for the beauty and Lady she really is.
AN UNSUITABLE HEIRESS by Jane Dunn is an entertaining Regency historical romance/historical fiction with an adventuress young woman who dresses in men’s clothing and travels to London to find the father she never knew and pursue her dream of being a professional painter. This is an easy and fun to read standalone Regency story with enchanting characters.
Corrina “Cory” Ormesby has always known she is an illegitimate child. Since her mother’s death she has spent the last seven years with a cousin in the country. Her cousin is no longer willing to support her and rather than being forced into an unwanted marriage, she dresses in men’s clothes and travels with her pet poodle to London in search of the father she knows nothing about but does have the yearly gifts he sent on her birthdays until her mother’s death.
When she tries to stop the abuse of a horse at a carriage stop, she is knocked down and a trio of young blades come to her aid and befriend her. They assist her in solving the unknown identity of her father, learn her true gender, and then they all must learn to navigate the difference in circumstances for the sexes in Regency London.
I really liked Corrina and her bravery as she sets out on her journey and her determination to live the life she wants without losing her innate kindness to people and animals and her sense of adventure. The author’s research is evident in the description of norms, clothing, and language. All her gentlemen friends are realistic representatives of this period. This story has a mix of romance, a search for personal independence, friendship, adventure, and cute pets. It also demonstrates a balance between light and fun predictability vs. societal norms and strictures.
I recommend curling up in your favorite reading chair with a cuppa and letting this story take you on an enjoyable journey to Regency London.
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Author Bio
Jane Dunn is an historian and biographer and the author of seven acclaimed biographies, including Daphne du Maurier and her Sisters, and the Sunday Times and NYT bestseller, Elizabeth & Mary: Cousins, Rivals, Queens. She comes to Boldwood with her first fiction outing – a trilogy of novels set in the Regency period, the first of which, The Marriage Season, is to be published in January 2023. She lives in Berkshire with her husband, the linguist Nicholas Ostler.
High-powered businesswoman Lana Rubicon has a lot to be proud of:her keen intelligence, impeccable taste, and the L.A. real estate empire she’s built. But when she finds herself trapped 300 miles north of the city, convalescing in a sleepycoastal town with her adult daughter Beth and teenage granddaughter Jack, Lana is stuck counting otters instead of square footage—and hoping that boredom won’t kill her before the cancer does.
Then Jack—tiny in stature but fiercely independent—happens upon a dead body while kayaking. She quickly becomes a suspect in the homicide investigation, and the Rubicon women are thrown into chaos. Beth thinks Lana should focus on recovery, but Lana has a better idea. She’ll pull on her wig, find the true murderer, protect her family, and prove she still has power.
With Jack and Beth’s help, Lana uncovers a web of lies, family vendettas, and land disputes lurking beneath the surface of a community populated by folksy conservationists and wealthy ranchers. But as their amateur snooping advances into ever-more dangerous territory, the headstrong Rubicon women must learn to do the one thing they’ve always resisted: depend on each other.
MOTHER-DAUGHTER MURDER NIGHT by Nina Simon is both murder mystery and multi-generational family drama combined into one heartfelt and intriguing read. Grandmother, mother, and daughter are reunited by a devastating medical diagnosis and while working through their dysfunctional dynamics they also work together to solve a murder. This is a standalone mystery that could easily become a series if the author wished.
High-powered L.A. real estate mogul, Lana Rubicon is seriously ill and now needs the assistance of her daughter, Beth who lives 300 miles north with her daughter, fifteen-year-old Jacqueline “Jack”. It is a difficult adjustment for everyone.
While Jack is leading a kayak tour of the slough, a dead body is discovered. When Jack becomes a suspect, Beth begs Lana to hire a criminal lawyer, but the bored Lana decides this is the perfect opportunity to focus on anything but her disease and protect her granddaughter by finding the real murderer. As the women discover a web of family lies, hidden agendas, and land disputes the danger escalates, and they learn that to find the truth they must do something they have never done, depend on one another.
This is a genre mash-up that delivers on both the dysfunctional family drama with humor, tough love, and learning to understand another’s view and an amateur cozy murder mystery that has plenty of twists and red herrings that kept me guessing until the end. The first third of the book leans more towards the family dynamics and discovery of the body and then the investigation plotline of the murder becomes intertwined, and the pace of the amateur investigation increases to the climax. The characters are entertaining and unique, but the family dynamics and interactions make them come to life.
I enjoyed and recommend this unique genre mash-up.
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About the Author
I write crime stories about strong women. My first novel, MOTHER-DAUGHTER MURDER NIGHT, about a grandma, single mom, and teenage girl who come together to solve a murder mystery, is out now.
Writing is my joy. In college, I was an electrical engineering student by day and a slam poet by night. After a brief stint at NASA, I started designing interactive exhibits and eventually became a museum director. I wrote two books of nonfiction about participatory, relevant cultural institutions. I thought of nonprofits as my “real” job and writing on the side.
Then, my mom got sick. I quit my job to help care for her, and I found myself turning to fiction–crime stories especially–as a way to escape during a hard time. My mom and I both always loved mysteries, and I decided to try to write one myself, with a detective/hero based on her. Now, my mom is doing better, and I’m gratefully spending my days writing, reading, and dreaming up new stories.
I live off-the-grid in the Santa Cruz mountains with my family.
